Coronation Street is apparently lining up the return of evil Nathan Curtis, seven years after he was sent to prison in a child sex grooming storyline.

Nathan groomed and raped Bethany Platt on the ITV soap when she was a teenager, before forcing her to have sex with his friends who were all part of a child grooming gang. The dark storyline concluded with Bethany facing Nathan and the others in court, with him sent to prison.

Nathan had planned to take Bethany out of the country and sell her into sex work, but Bethany sought help and managed to call the police. Years on Bethany will reportedly come face-to-face with Nathan once more after last seeing him in 2017.

The Sun has claimed Nathan will be making his shock return to the ITV soap seven years after his dramatic exit, while no details have been confirmed about the possible storyline. The publication claims Bethany finds out in a few weeks that Nathan has been released from prison and is out.

A source apparently told The Sun: “Nathan’s easily the worst villain Corrie’s ever produced. The grooming storyline was one of the soap’s most important. The hope is that revisiting it will boost the show. It’s a risk but it’s one that producers hope will pay off.”

Fans had predicted the “obvious” twist was on the cards months ago, with it heavily hinted this would happen. Not only had it already been teased by bosses that Bethany was set to have a summer storyline, but fans believed Lauren Bolton’s mystery ex-boyfriend could be Nathan after a clue.

Fans said the fact Bethany had been caught up in Lauren’s storyline was a major hint Nathan was the mystery man harassing teenager Lauren, and showing up at her flat. With Lauren now missing and presumed dead, could Nathan be involved in her disappearance?

The soap has yet to confirm the twist regarding Nathan or whether Lauren is involved. We also don’t know if Lauren will return to the show, and if Roy Cropper will be proven innocent after he was charged over her apparent murder.