Coronation Street actor Alex Bain has described his character Simon as "broken" as he struggles in the aftermath of his dad's departure from Weatherfield.
In emotional scenes, Peter (Chris Gascoyne) waved goodbye to the street on Boxing Day in order to work on a boat in the Mediterranean, but Simon missed his exit as he was away with friends.
Since then, Simon has increasingly turned to the bottle for comfort - a spiral that culminated in a car crash that led to young Sam (Jude Riordan) having to go to hospital.
"He's a broken person. He's not outwardly a villain," explained Bain. "He's not this type of person who's all confident - he might come across as confident, but he's not.
"I think he's just a broken individual who really hasn't got anyone properly looking out for him and who has dealt with a lot from losing his mum at such a young age to now being left behind by his dad."
"Simon felt quite sad [when Peter left]," he continued. "He was hurt that he left without saying goodbye and he doesn't really understand why he has gone, he was confused by it.
"He doesn't really want to accept that he has gone and he is angry with himself for not being contactable when his dad was leaving. As time goes on he has got a bit hardened to it and has accepted that his dad has gone."
Simon will leave Weatherfield himself in the coming months - and Bain is hopeful that his alter-ego will eventually find his "person".
"He is looking for someone to take care of him," he added. "Someone who's his person that puts him first above everything else, he's never had any. I think he just wants someone to be there just for him, to be his person."
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Neil Wilkes
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