CORONATION Street viewers have been left outraged as they fear that another iconic character is being written out in a shock soap twist.
Julie Carp – who is played by actress Katy Cavanagh in the ITV soap – made a shock return to the cobbles after 10 years last week.
Fans were confused when Julie seemed desperate to leave Weatherfield before coming face to face with her sister Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver).
But last night’s episode revealed that she has good reason – and it’s heartbreaking.
Having run into nephew Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) at the hotel and accidentally left her luggage behind for Todd to take home, Julie snuck into Eileen’s house to retrieve it.
Catching her and wondering why she was being so cagey, Todd opened her bag and pulled out a bag of pills.
“I’m sorry, I had no idea,” said George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley) as he picked up Julie’s medical pack.
Todd, took and looked before saying: “Cancer?”
As Eileeen began to come in Julie begged them to keep quiet about what they’d discovered.
Instead she plastered on a smile and went to lunch with her sister, trying to cover up that she’d been in Weatherfield for a few days already.
After a few run-ins, Julie got through it and made her excuses to leave – insisting she had to leave for work.
Todd took her back to her hotel and they sat down to talk and she told him the truth of what happened.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Coronation Street icon returning after 10 years in Hollywood for co-star’s exit storyline” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366764354112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]“Sarcoma,” she told him.
“That’s what the cancer’s called. It started in the soft tissue around my stomach.”
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D107740%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E%0A” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]And sadly she told Todd it was terminal.
“It’s stage four, it’s spread to my liver and lungs,” she said. “The chemo can slow it down but it can’t cure it.”
A tearful Todd said: “Oh Julie. Have they said how long you’ve got?”
“If I’m lucky I’ll see this summer,” she said.
“Now you know why I didn’t want to stay. Last thing you need is me killing the vibes.
“There’s no point crying about it. I’ve just got to make the most of the time I’ve got left.
“I’m seeing some specialists in alternative palliative care, that’s why I’m here. It might buy me a few months but that’s it.”
Todd begged her to tell his mum but Julie insisted on keeping it a secret.
She told him: “I’ve been perfectly fine by myself up until now. I don’t mean to burden her.
“I want her to remember me how I was, not how I’ll become. Can you give me that?”
Furious Corrie fans have taken to social media fearful bosses will kill off the iconic character and blasted the decision.
They called it a “disgrace” and accused the soap of ruining the cobbles’ legacy.
Taking to X – formerly Twitter – one fan fumed: “Bringing back Julie just too kill her off. Unbelievable.”
Another raged: “Well done Corrie – two episodes in and you’ve successfully and irreparably ruined Julie’s comeback story. We’re honestly speechless after tonight’s development.”
A third said: “The decision to kill off Julie is a disgrace! The abysmal hospital set looms large.”
A fourth chimed in: “I don’t understand why Corrie has brought back a character that could bring so much fun and happiness to the street when it desperately needs it! but they have of course made her sick and given her a a depressing storyline. GIVE US SOME LIGHT PLEASE!!! justice for Julie!!”
The character debuted on-screen on 25th April 2008 and was originally introduced as a new girlfriend of established character Kirk Sutherland (Andy Whyment).
In a later storyline she was revealed to be Eileen Grimshaw’s (Sue Cleaver) half-sister.
Will the beloved character really be saying goodbye for good?
Coronation Street continues on ITV1 and ITVX.
