Almost immediately upon Will Driscoll’s (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) arrival in Coronation Street, viewers learned that he was being groomed and abused by his paedophile sports coach, Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon).
The arrival of the Driscoll family: matriarch Maggie (Pauline McLynn), dad Ben (Aaron McCusker) and Ollie (Raphael Akuwudike), alongside Eva (Catherine Tyldesley) and Susie Price (Aurora Bradshaw) heralded a new era in Coronation Street, with the blended clan assuming control of the iconic Rover’s Return pub.
Will was the last to rock up, initially determined to remain in Hull, with his family believing he didn’t want to leave his friends behind. The truth, however, was much darker.
Under the thrall of abuser Megan, the thought of being separated from her was too much for the youngster to bear. When she broke things off with him, he threatened to move back to Hull alone to continue his training with Megan, prompting grandma Maggie to arrange for Megan to come to Weatherfield.
Unknowingly, Maggie’s solution has done nothing but ensure that Megan still has access to Will and can carry on her abuse of him unfettered. Fans have been sickened as Megan has continued their illegal and hideous sexual relationship, while also forming a relationship with Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard).
Megan has fallen pregnant, complicating things further, and despite Will’s pleas for her to end things with Daniel, she’s unable to as her secret is beginning to come under serious threat, with Daniel wanting to report Will’s behaviour to the school and Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan) becoming incredible suspicious about what’s going on between Will and ‘Miss Walsh’.
Although initially determined to have an abortion, Megan has decided to keep the baby. Telling Will that he’s the father, she insisted that they must keep their distance until they have raised enough cash to flee the street.
While the depiction of Will on-screen as being 15, later 16, has made fans incredibly uncomfortable, a soaps spokesperson has since confirmed that Lucas who plays him is actually 17.
As for Megan? Actress Beth Nixon is actually 25, and will turn 26 this year.
Beth recently revealed that she was almost the face of another Weatherfield resident: Lauren Bolton.
‘I’d auditioned for Corrie twice before – as a baddie both times of course – including for the role of Lauren,’ she explained.
‘Then, earlier this year, my agent sent me a casting brief and explained it was for a paedophile, which is a bit crazy to play because they’re obviously not a redeemable character, so they can push it pretty far.’
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Beth was already on the Coronation Street casting teams radar, after they’d seen her perform at the Arden School of Theatre: ‘The casting team had been to see me in quite a few shows that I did at my drama school in Manchester, so I was kind of on their radar.’
She explained her emotional reaction to getting the call confirming that she’d secured the part.
‘I was at work when my agent called me. I was upstairs as my colleague watched the desk and, when he told me I’d got it, everybody in the clinic could hear me screaming my head off and then I cried, because it’s been four years since I graduated and this is my first TV role.
‘It’s been a hard time and I was really close to quitting, having a normal job and pursuing a different career, so this just came at exactly the right time and when I needed it.’
While Beth understands that a character like Megan has to have a shelf-life, she’s loving her time on the cobbles: ‘Because of what the character is doing, she probably won’t be in it forever, which is a shame, because I’d love to work in Corrie every day. It’s such an institution, where everybody is so friendly, but I’m learning so much about how everything works and, if I go on to do other things and other dramas, I’ll know exactly what I’m doing.
‘The dream for me would be to do film, but I also really love theatre and just being a working actor is all I’ve ever wanted, so I’d be really grateful for anything that means I’m paid for doing acting as my job.’
