Coronation Street star Trevor Michael Georges has explained why his character Ed Bailey reacts so badly to the truth over his son James's sexuality.
Official spoilers released by the ITV soap have revealed that James tells Ed that he's gay in next week's episodes. Ed struggles to come to terms with the revelation, especially when he learns that there's a romantic connection between James and his friend Danny.
In one particularly heated moment, Ed accuses Danny of 'corrupting' James. He's also annoyed that his wife Aggie and other son Michael already knew that James is gay.
Speaking about the storyline for the first time, Trevor explained: "Ed is totally blindsided. His immediate reaction is that he is hurt and shocked that he doesn't know his own family.
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"He transfers the initial shock: 'How dare you think I was going to overreact? How dare you think that there is a problem telling me?' He feels betrayed by the people he loves and would die for.
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"The betrayal is expanded further when Ed discovers the love interest of his own son is someone he knows and he has a difficult time trying to process this on his own."
Revealing that Ed's initial mistakes have a ripple effect, Trevor continued: "Everyone is talking to each other except him and because he is new to the area, he has no-one to talk it through with. So that leads to a dynamic where he is constantly coming out with things that he hasn't processed properly yet and is quite clumsy in what he says.
"He says things out loud that are wrong and unfortunately he is saying it to people that are equally nervous about what he thinks and feels. Some damage is done by what he says off the cuff.
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"He is old fashioned to the point that he is blinkered. He is a political dinosaur and he is living in the past. He says he knows he is wrong and he has the strength to say he is trying to work it through. He has to go further in to himself and be honest with himself.
"The logic in Ed's head is from his own perspective of dealing with racism as a young man. Ed feels as a black man he couldn't hide his colour, but his son can hide his sexuality, so from Ed's point of view he advises his son to keep quiet. Everyone reads this as another form of homophobia."
Trevor also discussed the importance of Corrie exploring the issue of homophobia in football.
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He said: "Because this issue is still something that affects people, Ed's opinions and comments will resonate with people and hopefully may make people think.
"It is well publicised that life for gay footballers is not easy but it's important to raise awareness of homophobia both on and off the pitch.
"I recall working at a factory decades ago and everyone would have their different views but the minute someone said 'Did you see Corrie last night?', it was like this ceasefire. Coronation Street provides a talking point and reaching out to people on such a scale is a very profound feeling."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV.
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Digital Spy Soap Scoop video – hit play below for all the latest Coronation Street spoilers, as Chesney and Gemma are told that Aled is deaf, and James tells Ed the truth about his sexuality.
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