Coronation Street boss reveals 'heartbreaking' new storyline for Nina

Coronation Street spoilers: Will Nina accept help from Roy Cropper?

'There is a love story... which will turn into a massive social issue story'

Coronation Street producer Iain MacLeod has revealed a huge new storyline for popular newcomer Nina Lucas.

The plot will begin as a love story and develop into a social issue storyline involving Roy Cropper, Abi Franklin and Kevin Webster.

Speaking to whatsontv.co.uk and other media at a recent press conference, MacLeod said: “There is a fantastic and unique love story for Nina that might not entirely end up where you expect it to.

“Essentially, the love story will turn into a massive social issue story that deals with things like tolerance of people who are part of minority communities and who don’t look like everybody else. It will become a real talking point in ‘How does the world view people like Nina?’

“When they’re on Coronation Street, our characters are taken under viewers’ wings, and the viewers have taken Nina to their hearts. But in the real world, if you don’t look like everybody else, sometimes that can be incredibly challenging.

“So we’re going to explore that a little bit in the show - to heartbreaking effect, I hope.”

Nina, played by Mollie Gallagher, made her first appearance in November 2019, as the gothic daughter of Roy Cropper’s newfound half brother, Richard.

Richard, Nina and Roy in Coronation Street — Nina (Mollie Gallagher), pictured with now late father Richard (Paul Bown) and uncle Roy Cropper, played by David Neilson (Picture: ITV)

Following Richard’s death from cancer, Nina moved into Roy’s flat, and now works with her uncle at Roy’s Rolls, whilst also working part time as a lingerie designer at Underworld.

MacLeod added that 2021 will also be a huge year for other Weatherfield teens, and praised his younger cast members as being stars of the future.

“I think we’ve got an incredibly strong cohort of teen actors at the moment," he said. "I think Asha is fabulous, and Aadi is a character that I am really interested in.

"We’ve also got Kelly, and we’ll see more of Corey, who will reveal himself to be every bit as unpleasant as we perhaps expected in some of his dealings with Asha.

“Having just done our 60th anniversary, if you think who are the stars of the future and where are we going to get them from, I think they’re already in the show, actually.

“There are so many strong, young performers and there’ll be a bit of a spotlight on them next year.”

Coronation Street continues on ITV.

Alison Slade has over 20 years of experience as a TV journalist and has spent the vast majority of that time as Soap Editor of TV Times magazine.

She is passionate about the ability of soaps to change the world by presenting important, issue-based stories about real people in a relatable way.

There are few soap actors that she hasn’t interviewed over the years, and her expertise in the genre means she has been called upon as a judge numerous times for The British Soap Awards and the BAFTA TV Awards.

When she is not writing about soaps, watching soaps, or interviewing people who are in soaps, she loves going to the theatre, taking a long walk or pottering about at home, obsessing over Farrow and Ball paint.