CORONATION Street is bringing back Tommy Orpington as part of James Bailey’s coming out story.
The Weatherfield County footballing superstar – who is played by actor Matt Milburn in the ITV soap – will appear at the Weatherfield Golden Hearts Award Ceremony in the coming weeks.
Tommy Orpington is returning to the cobbles as part of James Bailey’s coming out storyline
James’ mum Aggie has been nominated for one of the gongs for her valiant attempts to save Robert Preston’s life after he was shot at Christmas.
New filming pictures show the footballer arriving for the ceremony to honour Aggie alongside the rest of the family.
Actor Matt has made a string of appearances in the soap as Tommy going back four years to 2016.
He was last seen last year when he was tapped up by Nick Tilsley to model Underworld’s new men’s underwear line, though that went up in smoke when the factory did.
James will come out to the media in the next few months
The family attend an awards ceremony for James’ mum Aggie
Ed has horrified viewers with his homophobic reaction to his son
Actress Lorna has teased the storyline will get darker
The pictures also show a reporter called Tessa who will interview James about his decision to come out – though it’s not set to be plain sailing for him.
Viewers watched last week as James decided to tell his dad Edison he was gay and in a relationship with Danny, an old friend of his dad’s.
Ed’s reaction horrified viewers as he raged at Danny, screaming: “Youve corrupted my son. You can do what you like with who you like. I am telling you keep your sick filthy paws off my boy.”
And actress Lorna Laidlaw has teased that’s just the beginning of the story that is set to get much darker.
Reporter Tessa will question James about his sexuality during the ceremony
She told Digital Spy: “These episodes were just the tip of the iceberg and it’s a journey. All of us have to go along with this journey and it will get darker for this child.
“To think how happy and lovely he was at the beginning of this and we’ll be exploring how him saying ‘I am gay’ can change some people’s perceptions of him. We go on that journey with him.”
The scenes will air later this spring.
* Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights on ITV at 7.30pm and 8.30pm
