Coronation Street favourite Lucy Fallon is reportedly set to return to the cobbles as Bethany Platt after a three-year absence.
Lucy played Bethany for five years until her character left Weatherfield in 2020 for a magazine internship in London.
Now, it has been reported that Lucy will reprise her role as Bethany after giving birth to her baby boy, Sonny in January with her boyfriend Ryan Ledson.
Filming is said to commence in the coming months and her first scenes will allegedly air after Christmas.
A TV source told The Sun: "Lucy is one of soap’s most talented actresses who won lots of awards for her powerful portrayal of Bethany’s grooming storyline. She was destined for big things and everyone was sad to see her go but the door was always going to be left open for someone of her calibre and popularity.
“Bosses reached out to her a few weeks ago about the possibility of coming back, and told her everything they’d planned for Bethany if she agreed.
“She discussed it with her boyfriend, and family, because she’s a mum now with a baby. Once they’d talked about childcare, and how best to juggle it all, she was able to say she’d love to return.
“Everyone is very excited. They were really keen to get her back.”
Bethany was involved in a number of storylines during her years on the cobbles, with one of her biggest being groomed by evil Nathan Curtis (Christopher Harper), who was part of a gang that groomed young girls in order to be pimped.
A terrified Bethany eventually reported Nathan to the police and he was sent to prison, but the ordeal has traumatised her ever since.
Bethany's return comes as her mum, Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) suffered a devastating miscarriage following her affair with Damon Hay (Ciaran Griffiths).
A heartbroken Sarah is now trying to repair her relationship with husband Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson) after he exposed her lies at their gender reveal party.
Coronation Street airs hour-long episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 pm on ITV — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on ITV Hub.