Coronation Street viewers are convinced Joel Deering is linked to Lauren Bolton’s disappearance on the ITV soap, especially after recent scenes.

With questions regarding the mystery buyer of the necklace given to Lauren before she went missing, as well as Joel’s secretive jewellery purchase around the same time, fans are revisiting the idea that Joel could be linked to the teen. But what if a scene three months ago involving Alya Nazir confirmed the truth about the matter?

Viewers may recall the moment that left them suspicious too, as a resident on the street questioned Joel over a comment he made about a purchase of cufflinks. While now fans are putting two and two together regarding the purchase, the receipt that worried his girlfriend Dee-Dee Bailey and this necklace linked to Lauren, the clues may have been there all along if it does turn out that Joel bought the chain, and is in fact tied into the Lauren storyline.

Soap bosses have yet to confirm whether there’s a connection between the characters, and if the storylines adjoin. But one character on the show appeared suspicious back in February about something that could reveal whether or not Joel did buy the necklace.

Cast your minds back to the moment Joel claimed he had been buying cufflinks in a jewellery story, and that’s what the receipt was for. Alya was seen questioning this, as Joel claimed he’d spent £300 on them, leading to her claiming he clearly had “expensive taste”.

Of course there was the whole twist regarding his secret wife and daughter, and him telling Dee-Dee about him buying his daughter things for later on. But Alya wasn’t the only one confused about his £300 cufflink purchase at the time, as Joel was quizzed over his decision to spend this amount of money by viewers too.