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CORRIE’S Lucy Fallon says this week’s dark and twisted scenes as “absolutely horrific” for her character Bethany Platt and some of the most shocking she’s filmed. This Friday’s episodes of the soap will see sex groomer Nathan Curtis (played by Chris Harper) take a more sinister turn when he passes her over to fellow abuser Neil for the first time. And 21-year-old Lucy reveals that the scenes were very traumatic to play. She says: “There’s a party with lots of men and it was really uncomfortable because I couldn’t stop thinking that this does actually happen to people. “The scene where Bethany ends up in bed with Neil is one of the worst scenes I’ve ever done. It’s horrific.” In the hard-hitting storyline 16-yearold Bethany has been groomed over the past few months by evil tanning shop owner Nathan, who we’ve seen planning to pass her over to his sick mates for sex. While Nathan sets the scene by pretending to owe Neil money, he tells Bethany to give him a signal by rubbing her ear if she feels out of her depth. But when Neil tries to lead her into he bedroom and Bethany makes the signal, coldhearted Nathan just looks the other way. Lucy explains: “She does end up sleeping with Neil and it upset me personally because she keeps saying: ‘No – I’m not that type of girl.’ “I had to cry throughout the whole scene and it was horrible. But because she’s so in love with Nathan she does what he wants her to. “The actor Ben (Cartwright) who plays Neil was amazing, but the scene itself was difficult. I really put myself into that mindset, I had to otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it properly. “But it was upsetting. It did take me some time to unwind from playing that. I was only in that day for the morning and I had a long drive home to Blackpool so I tried to listen to music and get it out of my mind.” Lucy – like Chris who plays creepy Nathan – has fiercely defended the shocking storyline which some fans branded inappropriate for a pre-watershed family soap. She says: “This is all about raising awareness for an issue which does happen to real girls like Bethany and to start a conversation about it. “We worked with the NSPCC and a girl called Lucy who told us her real story, which was really sad and I cried through our entire chat. “It made me feel quite passionate about it and really determined to do it justice for girls like her. “Even though it’s uncomfortable to watch I think it’s so important. I’m determined to do it justice for all the girls like her who are going through this terrible situation in real life. Nothing we have filmed has been graphic, there’s no nudity or anything that shouldn’t be on at that time.
“I understand that it’s pre-watershed and it’s a controversial storyline, but we need to do it at this time to target the people we want to target.
“I believe this storyline is so important so it doesn’t bother me that people say it shouldn’t be on at this time of night.
“That is outweighed by the people who say this is important and people who have come forward and said they were abused and it’s helping them to talk about it.
“For me it’s exciting to get a gritty storyline that you can really get your teeth into.”
Sparking
But some Coronation Street fans who will be switching off are Lucy’s own family and boyfriend, Tom Leech, 23.
She reveals: “My mum watches it but my dad can’t watch it at the moment. My boyfriend doesn’t watch it because he finds it too uncomfortable. The only reason I find it uncomfortable is because it’s me on screen. I’m not good at watching myself anyway.”
But Lucy has received praise from castmates. She says: “Backstage everybody has said how important it is. Ben Price who plays Nick is brilliant and always gives everyone good advice.
“Brooke Vincent and Kym Marsh said how important the storyline is and I’m pleased it’s sparking conversation.
“And I think outside of work it is sparking conversations. From what I’ve seen on Twitter it has definitely got people talking.” And things are set to get even darker for poor Bethany when she wakes up from the ordeal with Neil, as Nathan seems to want her to do it again.
Lucy explains: “The morning after Nathan makes her some breakfast and she’s like: ‘Does he know? What’s going on?’
“She’s really confused and he’s being really cool with her. She keeps wanting to talk to him about it but he’s like: ‘Shut up, it’s fine!’
“She comes home and he’s on the phone to Neil. He says he knows what happened, it’s fine and she did good. So she’s just really confused.
“She feels dirty and guilty and is so confused about how Nathan is acting.
“There’s quite a lot that happens with her mum Sarah too. She wants to go home and for Sarah to be like: ‘Come home’ but (Sarah’s boyfriend) Gary’s told Sarah to be really cool with her.”
But Lucy hints the plot is set to get even sicker. “Nathan twists everything and claims it makes her more desirable to him when other men want her,” she says.
“His influence on her is so big because she’s alienated her from all her friends and family. I’m looking forward to doing a scene back with the Platts’ just having a nice cup of tea.”
But Lucy reveals there is more to come for Bethany before the plot comes to a close later in the autumn. She adds: “If you think this is bad – it gets a lot worse.” ¬Ê
For help or more info regarding this subject visit nspcc.org.uk.