Coronation Street star Jane Danson: Leanne left 'broken' by Oliver’s death

Coronation Street spoilers: Leanne Battersby says goodbye to Oliver

Coronation Street actress on Leanne's last moments with her son

Coronation Street star Jane Danson has spoken about how Leanne Battersby is devastated next week when her beloved son Oliver dies.

In heartbreaking scenes, Leanne and dad Steve will be seen sitting by Oliver’s beside and singing You Are My Sunshine to him one last time before he passes away.

Leanne next week will continue her fight to overturn the court ruling that it was in Oliver’s best interests for his life-support machine to be turned off. Steve, though, has accepted the ruling.

Imran tells Leanne, however, that he’s no longer willing to represent Leanne. And despite pleading with a host of other solicitors no one will take on the case. Leanne even takes the extraordinary decision to barricade Imran in his office.

Coronation Street spoilers: Imran has bad news for Leanne Battersby

Imran says he can't represent Leanne anymore

She’s later told at the hospital that Oliver has suffered a cardiac arrest.

“There’s a little bit of Leanne that thinks, 'If this is it for him, then I won’t have to make a choice,'" says Jane, who plays Leanne.

“But then she feels guilty for having that thought. Oliver pulls through because of her request to resuscitate, but there’s a huge element of guilt in that, too.”

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Leanne at this point finally gives up her fight. In their final moments with Oliver, Leanne and Steve sing to him before his ventilator is turned off.

Jane goes on to say that Leanne is totally gripped by grief and is pulling herself apart.

“She’s devastated by the loss of what could’ve been. She’s trapped in a vicious circle of guilt, anger, sadness and despair. She’s broken.”

Jane has previously spoken about how she’s proud of the storyline, which has left Coronation Street fans in tears.

“Being in a hospital for 12 hours a day, talking about a dying child, is pretty heavy, but we’ve balanced it with lighter moments. We’ve all tackled this knowing that it’s a real story that happens to real families, so we owe it to them to tell it as truthfully as we can.

“Obviously, we’ve had the twisty soap elements mixed in, but in terms of a story about Oliver’s illness, we’re really proud of what we’ve been able to do during such strange times.”

Coronation Street continues on ITV.

David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.


Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 


David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.


Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!