Coronation Street star Mikey North has teased that dark scenes are on the way for Gary Windass after his alter-ego was sentenced to eight months behind bars on the ITV soap.
The actor, 40, has played builder Gary on the ITV soap since 2008 and his alter-ego has seen his fair share of drama over the years. Having just been sent to prison again after being found guilty of perverting the cause of justice in the Theo Silverton murder trial, in which he hid the weapon, he is now facing eight months behind bars.
Teasing What's to Come
Asked what is to come for Gary in prison, Mikey said: "Without wanting to give too much away, the amount of hours I've spent in makeup getting injuries put on for the two months that the viewers haven't seen would probably suggest not.
"Gary's surely done the most fight scenes in the history of Coronation Street and he's probably about to add to it in some serious numbers."
The actor, who appeared in Waterloo Road, The Doctors and The Bill before landing his signature role, explained that it is such a difficult situation, especially because he had been trying to cover up for former flame Sarah and now has to contend with wife Maria's reaction to the situation.
Gary's Dilemma
He added: "It's a tricky one. Obviously he thinks that she didn't deserve to go down so he's probably quite relieved on that front, but he's having to foot the blame for it.
"But I guess in the grand scheme of things, eight months, it could have been a lot worse! And she hasn't chucked him under the bus, so he has to be a little bit grateful for that.
"I think it's very difficult for Gary to have any resentment towards Sarah given everything they've gone through. They've been through an awful lot together, and she's probably covered up things for him in the past. So I think it's very difficult for him to feel any animosity towards her, as much as he might have to show it for Maria's sake."
Viewer Reactions
The episode in which Gary received his sentence certainly caused divide amongst viewers. On Reddit, viewers were clearly divided over the twist as one said: "so....the male goes to prison, while the female who committed the crime walks free. Soap logic continues to amaze me."
Another said: "Sarah got off on self defence, that doesn't obsolve Gary from what he did," and a third wrote: "This is actually an important storyline to run.
"Spend some time reading up on this subject, the differing sentencing guidelines between genders and the differing rates of incarceration. There's a pretty stark reality out there."
A fourth wrote: "Do we think this means Gary has left or are we gonna have eight months of that bloody prison set to look forward to?"
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.
