Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street star Calum Lill has spoken about the inevitable downfall of his villainous character Joel Deering.
Joel is currently on a desperate mission to cover his tracks after Lauren Bolton made an unexpected return to Weatherfield.
Recent flashback scenes showed that Joel was responsible for grooming and sexually abusing Lauren, which culminated in him carrying out a violent attack on the teenager in her flat. Afterwards, Lauren fled from the cobbles in fear for her life.
When Lauren came back earlier this month, Joel discovered that she is pregnant with his baby and he frantically started trying to manipulate her again.
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Calum recently caught up with Digital Spy at an exclusive Coronation Street photoshoot featuring the nominees for the Inside Soap Awards 2024.
We were given exclusive video access to the shoot and you can watch our behind-the-scenes footage at the top of the page.
Speaking about Joel's future, Calum explained: "We've seen Lauren come back and we've seen Joel find her. Without giving too much away, what I can say is that Joel's very driven, determined and selfish – and seems to lack a bit of empathy.
"I don't think we've seen the worst of Joel yet and I think he's going to do whatever it takes to protect what he's got and his way of life."
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Predicting that this won't end well for Joel, he continued: "The more that happens, the more plates he's trying to spin to keep this hidden and not get caught out. I think there's only so long he's going to be able to go. With soap justice, the chances of him getting away with it are quite slim.
"I don't think it would give the right message if Joel just got away with it. How he finds justice is very interesting and we'll have to watch and wait and see.
"He definitely could be underestimating Lauren. He views Lauren as 'lesser' – less intelligent than himself, less important than himself. That stupid view that he has could be something that lands him in trouble further on down the line."
Asked how it feels to play a character who may have a shelf life, Calum admitted: "It's bittersweet. To know that I'm going to have to leave eventually is really sad.
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"The people that I work with – cast and crew – are incredible. But I've been given an amazing, chunky story to sink my teeth into and I couldn't ask for anything more."
Calum has received two nominations at this year's Inside Soap Awards, as he's up for Best Villain and the twist that Joel was Lauren's mystery boyfriend is nominated for Best Showstopper.
"I've never had anything like this before, so it feels brilliant. I feel very honoured," Calum told us.
"I've been at Corrie for a year now and it's the nicest place to work. Everyone is so committed to taking the show to the next level and they put so much hard work into so many amazing storylines that they've got going on.
"Everyone's working so hard and working together to produce something of quality, that people can sit down and enjoy."
Calum is up for the Best Villain and Best Showstopper prizes at the Inside Soap Awards and you can watch our full behind-the-scenes video from the nominees photoshoot at the top of the page.
To see Inside Soap's full exclusive pictures and interviews with the Coronation Street cast, pick up the latest copy of the magazine, on sale now.
To cast your vote in the 2024 Inside Soap Awards, visit www.insidesoap.co.uk.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
