HORRIFIED Coronation Street fans claim Joel’s killer secret was hinted at by the soap eight months ago during a creepy Lauren scene.
Spectators flocked to X, formerly known as Twitter, where they pieced together the clues after one fan reposted the old scene.
The scene showed Lauren, played by Cait Fitton, walking out of the station with her duty solicitor, Joel Deering, played by Calum Lill, revealing she was let off with a caution after she committed criminal damage.
She later appeared unhappy with just receiving a caution and remarked that maybe she’d be better off locked up, leading viewers to believe something happened between her and Joel.
One user reposting the scene on x captioned the post: “Thanks to the kind souls who reminded me of Joel’s introductory scene from September last year. Here it is. Ooooo the foreshadowing!!”
Another commented: “Wow so I guess his character was planned for this all along.”
“I reckon Joel, as a duty solicitor, meets vulnerable youngsters like Lauren and grooms them. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lauren isn’t the first girl but she may have threatened to report him,” penned a third.
Meanwhile, a fourth person, who had forgotten all about the scene, wrote: “Thank you for retweeting. I’d forgotten this had ever happened.”
“It was right there and we all missed it,” penned a fifth.
A sixth said: “Joel was the only viable suspect from the beginning, whilst another eagle eye-fan pointed out: “She said she would’ve been better locked up, I.e. She wanted to be locked up to escape him..”
Other fans have pointed out that Lauren wore the same outfit in her missing poster that she wore when she was with Joel.
One user wrote: “She’s got the same outfit on which is on the missing poster!”
Joel was revealed as Lauren’s true killer in last night’s Coronation Street.
A flashback on the soap revealed that Joel brutally attacked Lauren in her flat and took the necklace Hope found from her.
Callum, who plays the Joel, has since broken his silence about the explosive twist saying he’s struggled to keep the secret for a year.
He said: “I’ve known this for over a year. It was last May that I got sent the breakdown for Joel saying that he was a charming character who’s got a dark side.
My view, by Soaps Editor Carl Greenwood
Joel's killer secret
CORONATION Street is finally getting a killer storyline right with the evil Joel Deering being revealed as Lauren Bolton’s murderer.
After a serious misfire with the terminally dull Stephen Reid – the only serial killer in soap that had characters begging to be killed so they could spared further scenes with him – Corrie’s back on form with Joel.
He was always going to be a baddie. He wears a suit on the cobbles and has a professional job – he might as well add a giant neon sign saying VILLAIN to every outfit.
And while his attack on Lauren was brutal and a bit too much for my liking, the end result is turning into something special.
He’s every bit as vicious as Pat Phelan, but can hide in plain sight like Richard Hillman. A classic Corrie killer.
Joel is a monster in a nice suit with a veneer of respectability and while watching him as a secret villain will be fun – the true enjoyment will come with his downfall.
It will put Dee-Dee Bailey at the centre of the show exactly where she belongs – and if the hints the show is dropping are anything to go by – she’ll be there with Lucy Fallon’s Bethany Platt.
Bethany is on the hunt for what really happened to Lauren, and Dee-Dee is set for some serious devastation – but with those two against him, Joel doesn’t stand a chance. And viewers will love it.
“When I got the screen test they said, ‘Okay, this is what Joel is going to be doing’. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, like this is a really terrible person. And I’ve got to hide in plain sight for a year.’”
The actor added: “I felt a huge weight of responsibility on my shoulders to do well and not give it away and not play some cliche, because the things Joel has done have happened to people in real life.
“So I had meetings with charities and did research. I watched documentaries and read psychological papers to create as much truth as possible.
“The thing that I kept in my mind was I would never want anyone who’d experienced anything like that to be watching something on screen that didn’t feel authentic and feel offended.”
