Coronation Street's Carla Connor is to sleep with her ex-husband Peter Barlow's half-brother upon her dramatic return to Weatherfield over the festive season.
Alison King as Carla Connor
The brunette businesswoman - played by Alison King - has never been one to do things by halves so it's hardly surprising that she will ruffle a few feathers when she waltzes back onto the cobbles in a few weeks' time and ends up in bed with Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) - leaving the her alcoholic ex's (Chris Gascoyne) heart in pieces.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "On her return to the cobbles this Christmas, she'll really stir things up by sleeping with Daniel, Pete's half-brother. Peter will find out when Daniel starts boasting about how steamy things are getting between him and Carla. Pete tries to play it like he doesn't care, be he clearly does and Daniel takes great pleasure in winding him up, knowing their history together."
The 44-year-old actress agreed to reprise her role as tough-talking businesswoman in the long-running soap this Christmas after 18 months away from the cobbles because the show's new boss Kate Oates wanted to "break new ground" on screen.
Kate - who became the executive producer in 2016 - explained: "Ever since I got here, it's been rumoured that Carla's coming back. But it was never true. Even the latest indications of it. Ali has only just signed her contract and she'll be back around Christmas. It's time to break new ground with Carla. I didn't want to put her on that familiar cycle of self-destruction, recovery, followed by more self-destruction."
Alison - who played Carla for 10 years - decided to take a break from the soap in order to spend time with her daughter Daisy.
Alison said at the time: "All Daisy has ever known is me getting out of the house at 7.30 in the morning and getting back when she's in bed. I've probably only ever done about 20 pick-ups or drop-offs in all the time she's been at school, which is quite sad."
Tagged in Alison King Chris Gascoyne