Hope Stape is set to get a fright next week as her killer dad John Stape will 'return' from the dead in Coronation Street. During Monday night's trip to the cobbles, fans of the ITV soap saw Fiz and Tyrone continue to worry about who had gone to the press with a book they have written all about Fiz's ex-husband's life and crimes.
Last week, viewers saw a shaken Fiz taking a phone call about the book being serialised in The Weatherfield Gazette and they wanted to get her side of the story. She and Tyrone both agreed they didn't want to speak on the matter, however, they were left trying to work out who was feeding the journalist with the information for the piece on Fiz's former husband.
Tyrone, played by Alan Halsall, was sure it was Fiz's jilted ex Phill Whittaker leaking the information after it was revealed earlier this year that he was gathering information on John to write a book. However, as the story made it into the Gazette, Tyrone spotted a clue which revealed the person behind the leaked information.
Fiz, played by Jennie McAlpine, joked that Tyrone's grandmother Evelyn Plummer wouldn't be happy to know that they have aged her in the article by saying she's 92. A penny then dropped and Tyrone remembered that he jokingly told Hope that's how old Evelyn was when she quizzed him on her great-grandmother's age.
The schoolgirl then confessed to divulging information to her 'friend' on her game, who goes by the name Mad Dog. While Tyrone was furious, Fiz kept reminding her daughter that what has since happened wasn't her fault. Tyrone and Fiz were later seen in the Rovers talking to solicitor Adam Barlow about their options to get the book publication and articles stopped.
But spoilers for next week's Corrie show the issue will not be quickly resolved. The week starts with Adam and Fiz meeting up with the publisher and she implores her to remove Hope’s name from the book. In the garage, Tyrone finds a leaflet advertising a Q&A session about the John Stape book.
Tyrone enters the hotel room where the Q&A session is in full swing but when the journalist suggests to the audience that Fiz was complicit in her husband’s crimes, Tyrone sees red, climbs on the stage and slaps him round the face. The hotel manager calls the police and Adam is then seen telling Fiz that Tyrone’s been arrested for assaulting the journalist who wrote the book.
Fiz begs the journalist not to press charges against Tyrone and later, the police let Tyrone go without charge and reveal that Fiz talked the journalist round. But Fiz and Tyrone have a blazing row and Fiz shows him a video of him punching the journalist and tells him it’s gone viral and as a result, they’ve brought the launch date of the book forward to the end of the week.
Adam tells Fiz and Tyrone that he’s spoken with a libel barrister who is happy to take on the case, but there’s no guarantee they’ll win and their costs alone will be £100k. Fiz and Tyrone break the news to Hope that the book will be published and they couldn’t afford to stop it.
But Hope rails at Fiz and Tyrone for failing to protect her. The police call at No.9 and after explaining that they’ve had a number of complaints about the video, arrest Tyrone on suspicion of assault and Fiz calls at No.5 and tells Chesney about Tyrone’s arrest. Hope then suddenly announces that she wants to stay with Chesney.
In a bid to do what they can to protect their 11-year-old daughter, Tyrone explains to Fiz how he bought up all the stock from the local bookshop, including the cutout in a bid to stop people reading the book. But as Hope lets herself in, Fiz and Tyrone freeze. Fiz hides the John Stape books from Hope while Tyrone distracts her in the hallway.
But then, in the backyard of No.9, a sulky Hope kicks open the door of the outhouse and is stunned to see a cardboard cutout of her real dad staring back at her alongside the stack of books, how will Hope react?
It comes as Hope actress Isabella Flanagan, who has played the character since 2017, discussed the future, and speculated that there might be more 'awful' things to come for her character. "I feel as if Hope might quieten down a bit," she told Inside Soap. "But then they’ll make her do something super bad. Everyone will think she’s doing something nicer, and then “Boom!” – she’ll do something awful."
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