Coronation Street's Maria Connor faces horrific online abuse next week on the cobbles, which even pushes her into debating her entire political career.
The local councillor (Samia Longchambon) questions her future in the public eye after she’s on the receiving end of heinous trolls online, ITV spoilers have now revealed.
In scenes airing on the soap next week, Maria is targeted in an online campaign that initially seems fun but later turns darker.
Maria comes across an online video of herself that has edited together clips of her delivering various speeches, splicing the segments into a compiled rap video.
Maria can't help feeling humiliated by the video, as she balances the situation with the ongoing strike chaos she faces.
After inadvertently causing a strike among the local refuse collectors, Maria comes under fire from her neighbours over their unemptied bins.
Then, Liam gets into a fight at school and Maria soon learns it’s because another viral video is doing the rounds.
When she sees the video, Maria is horrified to see someone has placed her head onto a naked woman, making it look like she’s in a porn film.
Gary Windass (Mikey North) feels terrible for his wife as she despairs over how realistic the deep fake video looks.
In scenes later in the week, Maria decides to seek help from the police as she's now receiving threats as well as nasty comments.
Ignoring Gary’s advice to lay low for a bit, a determined Maria refuses to hide away from everyone and she hosts a press conference.
During the event, Maria is heckled by Jimmy, who is the leader of the refuse team.
Gary jumps to the conclusion that Jimmy must be the one who's behind the online alias which is making threats against Maria – and he decides to take action, aggressively pinning Jimmy against the wall.
In the end, Maria decides that her family is under too much pressure and she vows that her position on the council isn't worth all the strife it’s putting their family through.
Maria's former rival Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor) is shocked to hear that she may be withdrawing from local politics.
Sally recalls how she was once in a similar position herself with online trolling, but she urges Maria not to be swayed from trying to make a difference. Will Maria take Sally's words of advice into account?
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
