ITV has released a first look for Coronation Street fans at the upcoming punch up scene between Steve McDonald and Jacob Hay.
The pair are set to come to blows over troubled Jacob’s relationship with Steve’s daughter Amy, after her drink was spiked in a club.
The drama kicks off on Wednesday’s episode, when Steve orders Jacob to keep his distance from daughter Amy, who has been hospitalised.
Due to his past with drugs, the suspicion falls on Jacob, who protests his innocence to the Barlows.
However, protective dad Steve is determined to separate the secretive teens and takes matters into his own hands to end their relationship - when Jacob then mentions Steve's late son Oliver during the showdown, he "sees red" and takes a swing at his daughter's boyfriend.
Actor Jack James Ryan, who plays Jacob, discussed the dramatic scenes with veteran Corrie actor Simon Gregson, who plays Steve, and said his character is “absolutely gutted” because he’s formed a strong connection with Amy.
He said: “He has genuine feelings towards her and he sees this new life and a new beginning for himself with Amy so when Steve tells him he can't see her anymore he feels a lot of emotion and it crushes him.
“What Jacob and Amy have is something really special and it makes him feel wanted, which is something he has never had or felt in his life before. He doesn't want to go against Steve but he sees a future with Amy and he really wants to fight for her.”
Speaking about the moment that Steve punches Jacob, which takes place in the hospital, Jack continued: “All Jacob wants to do is see Amy but Steve wants him to have nothing to do with his daughter. Jacob is being persistent and he brings sandwiches and crisps for Steve and Tracy to try and help.
“Steve asks Jacob to leave but Jacob is pleading with Steve to let him stay. Steve's son, Oliver, is mentioned so Steve sees red and punches Jacob. Jacob is totally shocked by this; he is totally surprised and didn't expect Steve to do that."
Oliver was Leanne Battersby and Steve's son who was diagnosed with a life-limiting form of mitochondrial disease as a three-year-old - the condition tragically took his life in November 2020.
“Jacob is so disappointed because now he knows at this point, it's going to be near impossible to win them over. But Jacob is going to continue to fight for Amy.”
Jack said that it was “really exciting” to film the scenes with Simon, adding that the pair had a fight arranger and worked on different ideas of how to make it look good on camera.
“I think we came up with something that looks really cool,” he said. “It is difficult to get the angles right when filming these sorts of scenes – you can't just punch an actor! So it has to be done in the right way.
“It's very precise so we did a few takes before we felt we had got it spot on and perfect. In the end, everyone was really happy with it and I am really excited to see the end result myself.”
Due to Covid-19 restrictions on the soap set, the two actors were put into a 'bubble' which Jack says “helped massively” because they could get close to each other.
He added: “I was also all padded up for the fall so I didn't hurt or break anything!”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7.30pm on ITV.
