Coronation Street fans have said some of the show’s latest scenes were ‘difficult to watch’ as Gareth Pierce confirmed his character is ‘in danger’.

Fans of the ITV soap have been growing concerned for the actor’s Weatherfield alter-ego, Todd Grimshaw, months after he started a romance with newcomer Theo Silverton.

As viewers saw at the time, when they randomly bumped into each other on the cobbles, sparks quickly flew between the pair. But Todd was confused when Theo initially wanted to keep their sizzling romance under wraps.

At the time, Todd was unaware that Theo had a secret wife, Danielle, and two children, but did know he was battling with his family’s religious beliefs. The truth eventually came out and since then, Theo has been struggling with his children’s reaction to his new life.

That was all before the return of Noah Hedley, who practised conversion therapy on Theo, arriving in Weatherfield, before causing him trouble by getting with his ex-wife and influencing his teenage son, Miles.

But it’d be fair to say that Corrie fans have been becoming increasingly worried for Todd after spotting signs of controlling behaviour from Theo and things took a harrowing turn during the latest episode of the long-running show.

During the latest trip to Weatherfield on Monday (September 1), Theo was seen attending his latest mediation meeting with Noahm which left him reeling.

But Theo wasn’t able to lean on Todd like he’d hoped, as the undertaker had sought comfort in the Rovers after his own stressful day. Following a phone call, Theo was angry that Todd was in the pub, but played down his want for him to come back home.

With Todd not keen to leave, Theo, having got drunk alone, headed to the pub in search of his boyfriend and became increasingly incensed as he watched Todd talking to Billy Mayhew, after trying to force the former flames apart.

Theo ended up slipping out of the boozer and later, Todd returned home, drunk and with his takeaway in hand. Theo hit out at him about his diet, leaving Todd slightly bemused. Getting to the crux of what was wrong, Theo fumed to Todd that he needed him after the mediation went badly, all while he was having fun with Billy.

As Todd tried to comfort him, Theo turned violent, slapping his hand away before warning him to never touch his face again. He then got even more violent, with Theo grabbing Todd’s face, before force-feeding him some of the kebab he had brought home.

Following the scenes, Corrie fans took to social media with sadness over whe they’d witness and praise for actor, Gareth. @mishybabez_ said: “Watching today’s episode of Corrie and the ending was difficult to watch. Protect Todd at all costs #Corrie.”

@TVMusings22 wrote: “The Todd and Theo scenes were really difficult to watch #Corrie.” @swarlanations commented: “The most watched soap in the UK doing a domestic violence storyline against a man will shine a light on a rarely addressed topic. Gareth and James are terrific in today’s episode. #Corrie.”

@LisasCrisps echoed: “That scene with Todd and Theo was so hard to watch but so important to show. Things like this do happen but absolutely no one deserves to be treated this way. Well done Corrie for showing this whole storyline! #Corrie.” @ts4953587 added: “My heart breaks for Todd! Mot one bit fat. I’m so glad corrie are doing this storyline As it’s rarely seen on Tv. Gareth will smash it! #corrie.”

It comes after Gareth shared that it will be just the beginning of an even darker storyline. “Todd is in danger,” the soap star told The Mirror. “Theo’s behaviour is becoming increasingly controlling…

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“Further down the road, there’s financial control. It’s very frustrating for the audience… [They’re] a little further ahead than Todd in recognising what’s going on. The audience is also party to a couple of occasional sadistic glances from Theo that Todd doesn’t see.”