Reeling from the tragic death of Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) in the Corriedale crash, Coronation Street’s Bernie Winter-Alahan (Jane Hazelgrove) takes out all her anger on the one person who matters most – Dev Alahan (Jimi Harkashin).
Bernie is easily one of the toughest characters on the Cobbles. The no-nonsense co-proprietress of Roy’s Rolls serves out sticky buns and frothy coffees with a side order matronly wisdom and dry quips.
She’s probably the last person you’d pair with the loveably vain womaniser Dev Alahan, and that is precisely why they’re a match made in Heaven.
Like Vodka and Redbull, Bernie and Dev are a gorgeous pairing that has no business being together, but somehow it just works – and their relationship has had more bumps than the cobbles themselves.
Greatest hits include their last minute wedding which turned into a comedy of errors including a burglar, a lost locket, Bernie’s allergic reaction to lilies, and a makeshift hospital ceremony where they said “I do” before having a mini-rave to celebrate. How very Manchester!
Unfortunately, there marriage has hit some big roadblocks lately largely due to Bernie’s well meaning but constant, meddling in Dev’s daughter Asha Alahan’s (Tanisha Gorey) life and mental health. Now the couple are set to face a fresh obstacle.
Bernie is no stranger to grief. Her most heartbreaking story on the street was coming terms with losing her son Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) to Motor Neurone Disease. The one silver lining of this massive loss was that it brought her closer to Paul’s former husband, Billy, who was like another son to her.
Excutive Producer Kate Brooks recently reflected on how grief has come to shape Bernie’s character, and the strength she projects.
‘Bernie is brilliant, she’s such a fun character. She’s really stoic. She’s watched her son die, which was horrific, and now she’s having to come to terms with the fact that Billy has also died. The thing with Bernie is she wants to take care of people, she wants to be people’s rock.
‘As a result of that she’s buried a lot of grief. If you cast your mind back to when Paul died it was very rare that we saw Bernie lose it or burst into tears. She was strong for everyone and the strength of that whole family.’
With Billy’s funeral round the corner, Bernie is struggling to control her grief. When the time comes to say goodbye, Bernie will lash out at Dev with some hurtful remarks before heading upstairs to drown her sorrows with a bottle of wine.
Unfortunately, that’s just the start of it. Losing Billy will lead Bernie to spiral down a path of boozy self-destruction when she heads off for a night with the girls. Despite Dev trying to warn her that booze isn’t the answer, Bernie won’t listen and instead meets up with Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor, Gemma, Glenda and Christina to knock back some shots. This won’t end well…
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Kate Brooks explains how Bernie’s grief will be the biggest challenge to her relationship with Dev in 2026.
‘We wanted to explore what would happen if she had to deal with another really tragic death and how that grief manifests. We take Bernie on a really interesting journey as she struggles. It gets to the point where, because it’s been bubbling for such a long time, it actually kind of erupts. When it does, there’s consequences for Bernie.
‘It’s not as straightforward as Dev sweeping in and making everything OK. It’s a really muddy, murky story that we take her on and we see another side to Bernie that we’ve not seen yet.’
But will Dernie survive? Kate is tight-lipped. But she does suggest that they’ve got a fighting chance.
‘Obviously it’s going to be a test for Bernie and Dev. They are a really strong couple and no matter what we throw at them, they can overcome because they love each other. They absolutely adore each other.’
‘So it’s a big test for them, it’s a big story for Bernie. Roy’s embroiled in that story as well. It’s a really interesting one to keep an eye on because it’s going to be quite a big start to the year for Bernie.’
