Coronation Street star Marc Baylis has suggested that his character Rob Donovan may not be a fully changed man as a result of his time in prison.
The character - brother of Carla (Alison King) and dad to Bobby (Jack Carroll) - was last seen almost eight years ago, two years after he was jailed for the murder of Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan).
Last week, Bobby visited Rob in prison to tell him about Carla's dire health situation, asking him to consider donating her one of his kidneys if he turns out to be a match.
Carla is aghast when she hears about Bobby's visit, but in this week's episodes she agrees to visit her brother, who claims that he has found God and wants to go ahead with the operation.
"Rob is a very different person," said Baylis, who is back on Corrie for an extended stint. "It's been seven years since we last saw him. That's a lot of life. It's a lot of time to be in the prison system as well.
"Whether his core nature has changed or not, whether he's made changes for the greater good, is yet to be seen. But he's not had the easiest of times in prison, as I don't think anyone would do for that amount of time, particularly someone who did what he did to a young woman.
"It's not something that he's had an easy journey with, and it's something that he has huge regrets over with the way that everything played out. We do get to see some of that on screen, as well as Rob's genuine feelings. But with Rob, there are always motives to make his life better than what it is, and that may well get him into trouble yet again."
With Rob set to be around for a while, Baylis went on to tease what may be in store for his character in the months ahead.
"There are some heartfelt moments with the people that Rob loves, including new characters that Rob has relationships with," he revealed, adding: "There's a darker side to Rob than I've known before, and we get a window into, I would say, a man who needs more support than he's getting."
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7am on ITVX and at 8pm on ITV1.
> Picture Spoilers: Next week on Coronation Street (Jan 13-17)
Neil Wilkes
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