Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) is about to receive a blast from the past inCoronation Street – and not the kind she’d want to receive.
Viewers will remember that our Deb’ spent months behind bars earlier this year, as a result of her taking the rap for the role her secret son, Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard), played in the Corriedale crash.
Carl had switched their seats in the aftermath of the pile-up, and attempted to use Debbie’s dementia against her and convince her that she’d been driving, though Debbie had known the truth all along and allowed herself to be blamed in penance for giving Carl to her parents after he was born and allowing him to be raised as her brother.
When Carl learned that she was his mum, his sheer anger allowed him to let her take the fall, and Debbie was sentenced to a spell in the slammer.
While there, she came across Lou Michaelis (Farrel Hegarty), who proved to be an absolute lifeline.
She also came across Paula (Kelli Hollis), who proved to be an absolute rotter, and it’s Paula who’ll be making her way back to Weatherfield for a less-than-desired reunion!
Taking to Instagram, Kelli uploaded a video updating fans on her return to the soap, captioning the post: ‘Paula’s back on the cobbles next week! No spoilers… but trust me, it’s not going to be plain sailing. Tune in to find out’
‘I’ve got a Coronation Street update for you, but this time it’s about me because yes I’m back!’ she began the clip.
‘If you know, I did a little stint at Corrie at the beginning of the year in jail with poor Debbie and after those they booked me for some more episodes. So, obviously, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen or what’s going on. But let’s face it, it’s Paula, so it ain’t going to be all f****** good, is it?
‘I actually didn’t even know that they’d started sharing and announcing that I was back for some more episodes, as you can see, I got tagged in this on Instagram, that’s how I found out.
‘I think I should know, but I actually don’t know, I think my episodes start around the 19th, which is next week, Monday next week.
‘So yeah, just thought I’d let you know, back at Corrie for a bit!’
Paula served as the ‘top dog’ of the prison, and while arguably less fearsome than the Yvonne Atkins’ and Bea Smith’s of the world – partly due to the pre-watershed rules – she had it out for Debbie.
It turns out, Paula had previously been thrown out of the Chariot Square hotel, y’know? The one that Debbie owns?
As it turns out, Paula can hold quite the grudge and when she recognised the diminutive hotelier, she had the knives out for her!
Paula did turn to Debbie at one point, in floods of tears after a clash with her boyfriend, and though Debbie at first tried to comfort her, her dementia symptoms flared up and led to Debbie mocking both Paula and her boyfriend.
Enraged, Paula tried to break Debbie in half, before Lou came to the rescue, later suffering a battering of her own for intervening.
Next week, Paula reappears at the Chariot Square hotel, the one she’s banned from? Yeah, we don’t reckon she’s that fussed about the small matter of trespassing.
Her return comes as Debbie and her husband, Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan), continue to struggle amid Debbie’s dementia battle.
As her symptoms continue to intensify and Debbie messes up a wedding booking by first, forgetting the date, and later getting into a slanging match with Paula in front of the bride-to-be, it’s clear Paula’s not back to clear the air with her former wing-mate.
But will she stop with a bit of professional sabotage, or is Debbie in real danger?