IT’S been one of the most talked about Coronation Street storylines in recent years.

And now, the mystery of what has happened to troubled teen Lauren Bolton – which has gripped fans of the soap for months – is finally going to be solved.

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So, who better than Lucy Fallon, who plays the cobbles’ resident journalist and self-appointed detective Bethany Platt, to dish the dirt on what viewers can expect – including the fact that Lauren isn’t dead?

“Bethany’s been desperate to pin Lauren’s disappearance on Nathan [Curtis, who groomed her],” Lucy, 28, explains.

“She wants him to go back to prison, so she wants it to be him. But obviously, he hasn’t killed Lauren.

“She is actually alive. It’s going to really throw Bethany when she finds out. It will all be very triggering for her.”

The high-profile plot is what enticed Lucy back to the show. She previously quit Weatherfield in 2020 after five years, but returned last year as the writers thought Bethany was crucial to telling the story.

“I am so relieved they didn’t kill me off as I might not be sat here right now. Thanks, guys!” she says, laughing.

“I got the phone call from a producer last April who said: ‘Something is going to happen. Somebody on the Street is getting groomed. And that’s what’s going to bring you back into the story.’

“I needed that time away. I didn’t go and do an awful lot of work stuff. But I feel like I did quite a lot of life stuff. [Lucy welcomed her first son, Sonny Jude, now 19 months, with her partner, footballer Ryan Ledson last year.]

“I just needed that. I don’t regret leaving at all. It was definitely the right thing for me to do at the time. But then, it was the right thing for me to come back, too.”

But going back wasn’t all plain sailing. Lucy says: “I felt different and a bit weird on my first day.

“It was like going back in time, as my life has changed so much. I do feel like a completely different person. Then, after a week, it was like no time had passed.

“Everyone welcomed me with open arms. I’m enjoying it more this time – the time away has given me an even bigger appreciation for the show now.

‘Very lucky’

“I know what it’s like not to be there. We are so very lucky to have this job.”

Lucy is one of the few people who’s known Lauren’s fate for months and has had to keep the secret from her nearest and dearest. But she says they know better than to ask her.

“I never, ever say anything. Mum sometimes will ask, but everybody knows not to ask me, because I don’t really talk about it. I’m just not going to tell you the information!

“Also, we filmed this so long ago, I’m like: ‘What is going on? What happened?’ I always forget anyway.”

Lucy’s character Bethany has been embroiled in controversy since the day she was born. Her mum, Sarah Louise, played by Tina O’Brien, was only 13 when she fell pregnant in a storyline that was headline news.

As well as the grooming plot, she has also been involved in a drugs scare and been expelled from school. But Lucy says that she revels in her character being given the gritty plots.

“They’re my favourite things to do,” she says. “I know that sounds a bit sadistic, but I just prefer doing that kind of stuff. It’s something to sink your teeth into.

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“I don’t really get sad [after filming upsetting scenes]. I can switch off from it quite easily.

“I have a long drive home, so even if I have scenes where I am crying all day, I just spend the time in the car ‘shedding’ Bethany along the motorway, then by the time I’m back, I’m like: ‘Oh, I’m home now.’”

Helen is such a humble, nice person – she always gave me good advice

But it looks like there will be some actual tears from Lucy come December, after it was announced that actress Helen Worth, 73, who plays her on-screen gran Gail Platt, will be leaving the show after a whopping 50 years.

“Helen Worth is the best,” Lucy says.

“I do feel sad. When I first joined the show at 19, she was the one who told me to always be nice to everybody, from the make-up girls to the cleaners, because you never know who says what to other people.

“And, obviously, I am nice anyway! But she always gave me good advice.

“And I think for somebody who has been in a show for 50 years and is super-famous – everybody knows who Gail Platt is – she is so humble and just a very nice, calm person.

She was the best kind of role model, as she was super-grounded.

“She let her on-screen children – played by Tina, Jack P. Shepherd and Ben Price – know first, and asked  them to “tell the grandchildren”, so Tina told me.

“It’s going to be a massive shift in terms of her being the matriarch of the Platt family. I don’t know what it’s going to be like without her. Tina will have to step up!

“Even though it is really sad, I feel like Helen has definitely made the right decision for her.

“She lives in London and commutes to the set. It’s a lot and she’s been there for 50 years. She deserves to retire and chill with her husband.”

It’s rumoured that show bosses have decided to let the legendary star have a “happy ending” and it’s thought she will rekindle her romance with second husband Martin Platt, played by Sean Wilson, and they will sail off into the sunset together.

Although Lucy is being coy about the exit plans, she did warn us when she arrived that she wouldn’t give away “Street secrets”.

While Helen will no longer be around to offer Lucy advice, she has formed firm friendships with some other Coronation Street stars.

“Obviously, I was always close to Tina, because she plays my mum. But it’s even more so this time. We’ve probably got more in common.

“Last time, I was 19 and she was in the thick of being a real-life mum with a baby. It was different. But now I have a child, too, it feels like we are more on the same level.

“I get on with all the Platts, but particularly Ben who plays Nick. Then Colson [Smith, who plays Craig Tinker], he’d get annoyed if I didn’t mention him [laughs].

“Then there are also people who I didn’t know last time, like Channique [Sterling-Brown], who plays Dee-Dee and Charlotte Jordan, who plays Daisy.”

Charlotte and Lucy’s off-screen friendship is particularly ironic, as their characters have quite a fractious relationship.

“We really like it when Bethany and Daisy don’t get on!

“We’ve had some scenes where we’ve been getting along, but I prefer the stuff where we’re being mean to each other, because it’s just more fun,” she says.

I struggled after having a miscarriage. I felt like I couldn’t get back to normal

Lucy turned the camera on herself recently when she appeared on reality series Drama Queens, alongside fellow Corrie stars Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach.

“It was quite hard at first,” she admits.

“I found it scary because I’ve never really done anything where I’ve just had to be myself. It’s hard to know how to be yourself.

“I was thinking: ‘Who am I? What the hell do we talk about?’ But as it went on, I got to know the crew and I just forgot they were there.”

As well as sharing her highs, Lucy revealed on the show that before welcoming their son, she and Ryan, 26, tragically experienced a miscarriage when they first got together.

Speaking about her first scan, she said: “I didn’t expect anything to be wrong.

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“That was one of the most difficult things me and Ryan have ever had to go through, and I think I really struggled with it after, because it felt like everybody sort of moved on.

“Everyone else’s lives sort of went back to normal, and I felt like I couldn’t.”

Her Corrie pals Brooke and Helen Flanagan, as well as her fans, sent an influx of messages of support and thanked her for speaking out.

“The responses… I had lots of people saying they had miscarried, too. In my group of friends, I’m the first to have a baby.

‘We’re in it’

“So nobody else is even trying or has ever been through that before. But it’s probably going to be something that happens, because it is common.

“I’ve had people close to me experience miscarriages and I felt sad for them, but I didn’t properly relate to what they went through until I’d also gone through it.

“When it happened to me, I was so upset. At first, I didn’t really speak about it, because I don’t think I got over it until I was pregnant again with Sonny. Now I feel like it’s just part of our journey and part of our story.”

Lucy previously told Ryan that she was keen to have a big family and would want at least three kids, but while Sonny is now in a better sleep routine she’s had a rethink.

“I’ve changed my mind now,” she confesses. “I couldn’t do it! My sister Laura has three – all boys, too. Maybe just one more.

I don’t even want a big proposal, all he has to do is get down on one knee

“I do like being a young mum. I feel like I’m still 17, then I remind myself: ‘You are 29 this year!’ Having children changes things.

“We’ve started to get a taste of our normal lives again now because Sonny is a bit older. He’s sleeping better and he will sleep at other people’s houses, too.

“We went to Barcelona with friends in May and he stayed with his grandparents.

“We were saying: ‘This is amazing,’ but I don’t want to get too used to it, as then we will have another baby and I’ll think: ‘S**t, this is awful!’”

Back on the cobbles, while Lucy loves Bethany’s difficult storylines, there is one thing she would like to see for her.

“I’d love her to get married… Just to get a wedding, because she’s probably going to get there before I do,” she laughs.

“I mean, the pressure will be on Ryan if Bethany actually gets married before me! I feel like it would be quite nice.

“Although soap Editing are always dramatic, so something awful would probably still happen – like someone would die at the wedding.”

Fans of the reality show Drama Queens know Lucy has spoken about her desire to tie the knot with Ryan.

“I don’t even want a big proposal,” she sighs. “Any proposal will do… Well, maybe a wee bit of thought behind it.

“He can’t just do it on the sofa! I just want to wear the nice ring. I’m not even really bothered about the wedding. I just feel like the proposal would be nice.

“I have risked a lot to give him a child and all he has to do is get on one knee!

“It’s not that hard. We’ve got a child. We’re in it. Ryan can’t go anywhere!” she laughs.

• Watch Lucy in Coronation Street, 8pm, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, ITV1 and ITVX.

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