Coronation Street's Gary Windass is set to rise from the dead on Christmas Day (25.12.17).
Mikey North as Gary Windass
Fans of the long-running soap were left devastated last month when they found out the former soldier (Mikey North) was being killed off in shocking scenes to air next week, but it looks like viewers can breathe a sigh of relief as the gripping storyline was all part of a shocking twist and the hunk will actually return to the cobbles - alive - over the festive season.
A source said: "Bosses have been trying to keep the Gary news under wraps. They have been heavily building up to his death after. Fans were gutted.
"Gary's mum Anna is told in next week's scenes that he was killed driving a diplomat whose car was ambushed. To unexpectedly bring him back is a huge twist. Fans will love it."
However, it won't be smooth sailing for Gary upon his return as Pat Phelan's (Connor McIntytre) daughter Nicola Rubenstein (Nicola Thorp) will have announced to his devastated girlfriend Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) by then that she's expecting his baby after they slept together after a few drinks.
Mikey said recently: "Nicola is the only person who he's told exactly what happened in Ukraine and what he had to do. That secret is one of the reason he feels an attachment to her Nicola is there at the right time, and in the heat of the moment Gary isn't thinking.
"The truth is that the PTSD from when he was in Afghanistan is rearing its head, and Gary is very volatile. The pressures from this work are bringing a lot of demons back."
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the cobbles, things aren't looking good for Robert Preston (Tristan Gemmill) as he's set to collapse in his restaurant the Bistro following his testicular cancer diagnosis.
A source told the Daily Star newspaper: "It's not looking food. He has been diagnosed with testicular cancer so viewers will be left wondering if this is it for him."
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