IT’S GOING TO GET DARKER FOR BETHANY

Lucy Fallon says playing a victim of child grooming on Corrie has been utterly harrowing – but so worthwhile

Coronation Street star Lucy Fallon broke down in tears while listening to the horrific story of a real-life child grooming victim while researching the sexual exploitation of her character Bethany Platt. But the encounter only made Lucy more determined to portray the storyline as authentically as possible.

While preparing for her role in one of Corrie’s darkest-ever plots, the 21-year- old actor spent a morning with the young woman who had suffered six years of abuse after being approached online aged just ten by a man much older than he claimed.

‘I was nervous about the storyline before we met,’ admits Lucy. ‘It was hard to put myself in that situation. Hearing what happened to her was horrific; I was crying. But it helped me understand how people get into a situation like this and made me passionate about the storyline and determined to do it justice.’

The plot, which has been running since Christmas Day and was inspired by the Rotherham child sex scandal, has seen Bethany, 16, groomed by Nathan Curtis, 35, into becoming his girlfriend and losing her virginity to him. The NSPCC estimates there were around 2,400 cases of children being sexually exploited in 2011. ‘I wasn’t aware how widespread it was; that was scary,’ says Lucy.

Her character’s plot took a sinister turn last week as Nathan sold Bethany to a friend for sex and this week it gets darker still (see Jaci Stephen’s column, left). ‘Nathan is trying to push Bethany away from everyone so the only person she can turn to is him. Then she’ll do everything he says,’ explains Lucy.

Bethany’s mum Sarah- Louise, who doesn’t know about the exploi-

tation, will continue to struggle to deal with the situation, making this as much a story about parenting as it is about grooming. ‘I’ve had women message me saying they’ve watched with their daughters and spoken to them about it,’ says Lucy. ‘We want to start a conversation so people are aware these things happen.’

So far the reaction on social media has been positive, according to Lucy. The broadcasting regulator Ofcom assessed six complaints but concluded that Coronation Street has an

‘established role in covering challenging or distressing social issues’.

The plotline will rumble on through summer and see Bethany self-harming as she struggles to cope, before reaching a conclusion in the autumn. After that Lucy assures viewers there’ll be some light relief for Bethany.

‘Of course, this has to change Bethany as a person,’ she says. ‘But I’ve been told she’s not going to be in a dark place for the rest of her life and it will be OK in the long run.’