Corrie's Marcus Dent and Todd Grimshaw
Charlie Condou says it was "inevitable" that Maria and Marcus were going to split up in Coronation Street.
The actor has been at the centre of a sordid love triangle in 'Coronation Street' of late, cheating on his girlfriend - played by Samia Ghadie - with Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley), and he admits he foresaw a messy split for Marcus and Maria.
Charlie exclusively told BANG Showbiz at the TRIC Awards in London: "He loves her very much, but this is soap - it's never gonna end well! When they told me about the storyline of Marcus and Maria getting together, I knew it would end in tears at some point. It was inevitable."
Things will go from bad to worse next week when scheming Todd arranges for Maria to walk in on him and Marcus in the middle of a tryst, but Charlie has defended his alter-ego and insists Marcus can sense he is being used by Todd.
He said: "I think he's not stupid, Marcus ... he's already getting a sense that he's being played, and I think that comes out quite quickly. Todd knew that Maria was coming, but Marcus is very attracted to Todd and there's a lot of chemistry there, he can't keep away from him.
"It's head and heart in a lot of ways ... I think he's trying to fight off the inevitable. There's going to be a lot of heartache coming in the next few weeks."
Tagged in Charlie Condou Samia Ghadie