Coronation Street stars Charlotte Jordan and Rob Mallard have teased a frightening end to Daisy Midgeley’s stalker storyline on the ITV soap, as their characters’ wedding approaches.
The actors appeared on Lorraine on Monday morning, ahead of horrifying scenes in which Daisy's obsessive stalker Justin (Andrew Still) targets her in an acid attack.
Justin’s obsessive behaviour has spiralled on the cobbles, while Daisy and fiancé Daniel have become increasingly frightened by him.
Sitting in the ITV studio with host Lorraine Kelly, Rob said his character Daniel initially thinks the solution is to take Daisy off social media, before realising that is a form of victim blaming.
Lorraine said: “It is going to impact both of you. You just know it’s not going to go well. I know you don’t want to give anything away, but I can imagine…”
Rob replied: “Nothing we can give away. But we will say Justin is interfering right until the bitter end.”
“Oh jeez,” Lorraine gasped. “It’s going to get worse and worse,” to which Charlotte said: “Yeah. It's sad.”
The Coronation Street storyline reflects the frightening statistics around stalking as well as acid attacks, where the UK has one of the highest rates of recorded acid attacks in the world, per capita.
Coronation Street has sought guidance from Women’s Aid when researching the upcoming story, and is also working with The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, a charity that supports victims of stalking.
Saskia Garner from the anti-stalking charity said: “We’ve given our insight from the experiences of the victims we speak to every day to shape the way the story has gone.” In upcoming episodes Daisy is frustrated after police play down her ordeal.
Actress Charlotte said: “He’s what is known as an intimacy-seeking stalker. He fully believes they’re in a relationship and that they’re in love and she starts to get extremely scared.
“She’s a confident character, but what you see is this guy take her power from her and destroy everything that is her. You’ll see her slowly crumble and get smaller and I don’t think she’ll ever be the same.”
Actor Andrew, 29, said the storyline will get even darker as his character stops at nothing to get his way. He said: “He has this delusional belief that they’re going to run off together. He’s laser-focused, I think he’ll go to whatever lengths he feels necessary.”
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust was founded in 1986 after the disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, who went to meet a client and never returned.
She was never found and evidence suggested she may have been targeted by a stalker.
Ms Garner said: “It’s so important programmes like Coronation Street highlight the impact of stalking.
“One in five women and one in 10 men experience stalking. Victims tell us it’s a crime of psychological terror. You’re not safe in your own home, on your phone – stalking infiltrates every aspect of a person’s life.”
*Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV
