Coronation Street star Charlotte Jordan has revealed her strong reaction to a new storyline which will see her character Daisy Midgeley targeted in a horrifying acid attack. Depraved stalker Justin Rutherford will target the barmaid just as she's about to marry Daniel Osbourne in shocking scenes screened next week.
For months Rovers Return barmaid Daisy has been pursued by Justin, since they met in a hospital waiting room and she was kind to him. Justin returns to Weatherfield to cruelly attack Daisy with acid on her wedding day.
He carries out the evil attack after the Coronation Street favourite discovered he had been released on bail after lunging at her. Charlotte, who has played Daisy since November 2020, was asked how she reacted when she were told about what was about to unfold.
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She told the Manchester Evening News and other media: "Words I cannot say on camera. 'F*** me that's dark.'" The 27-year-old actress added: "I really didn't see that coming." And she said the ITV soap's decison to tackle the subject took her by surprise.
"I didn't think they'd go that route with it. It's not something you see a lot on television so I was really caught by surprise by it," she said.
Working alongside The Katie Piper Foundation and Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI), Coronation Street decided to tell this story to highlight the devastating impact and long lasting effects of such heinous attacks. The Katie Piper Foundation, launched by model Katie Piper who was left with extensive injuries after acid was thrown in her face in 2008 when she was 24 years old, delivers mental and physical rehabilitation to survivors of burns and traumatic scarring. And the ASTI works to end acid violence at a global level. In 2021 there were 420 reported acid attacks in the UK.
Viewers will see Daisy looking a million dollars as she gets ready to leave The Rovers for the final time as Miss Midgeley. Ryan Connor, played by Ryan Prescott, steps in as wedding chauffeur on her special day and they are both horrified to find Justin, played by Andrew Still, lurking in the shadows in the pub. Holding a glass full of clear liquid, he advances on Daisy and throws acid at her.
After coming to the end of her tether with his terrifying behaviour, Daisy recently set a trap to wind-up Justin to the point that he launched a physical attack on her. He was arrested and charged with assault, but Daisy was distraught to learn that he had been released.
"She thinks he's finally got the picture and is trying to stay positive," said Charlotte. She says Daisy thinks the extent of her worries on her wedding day is waking up with a red eye, a wedding cake with the wrong name on it, her dress not fitting right and her wedding car being stolen. But then, as she's about to leave, Justin appears.
Charlotte says the chosen wedding dress for Daisy had to be practical for the harrowing scenes ahead. "It had to be Daisyfied and also had to be practical for the purpose," she said.
She said about Justin's wicked actions: "To do somethng like that with acid I don't know how you can possibly understand it or how you can possibly get to that point because it's so evil. To decide to take away someone's idenity and someone's face like this is so just heinous I don't even know how you can really start to think about that being someone's intention for you."
Asked how she got her mindset on filming something so dark, she said: "I have to go the other way and I have to snap in and snap out and talk about other things otherwise it gets draining. Play happy music, have some nice snacks, talk about the dog."
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