Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street star Gareth Pierce has spoken about the upcoming departure of his on-screen mum Sue Cleaver for the first time.
The actor speculated that his character Todd Grimshaw could return to his "devilish" ways once his mother isn't around to keep tabs on him.
Sue recently announced that she's bowing out from her role as Eileen Grimshaw after 25 years. Her final scenes will air in late spring.
Viewers know that Todd has been a much nicer character over the past couple of years, turning his back on his scheming ways, but could that change again in the future?
Related: Best streaming services
What to Read Next
Speaking to Digital Spy and other press about Eileen's upcoming departure, Gareth commented: "That'll be interesting, won't it?
"That would be a good experiment to see whether the devilish side of Todd emerges more, or less, without his mum keeping an eye."
He continued: "I just love that Todd is so multifaceted. I think it's my favourite thing about Corrie as well.
"Prior to being in the show, I'd be on a job that felt like it was drawing more from my comic ability. Then you might be on another job, as I went through a phase of playing some really quite hard-edged characters as well, and you'd go: 'Oh, we don't need the comedic bit for this'.
Related: Coronation Street's Debbie Webster keeps a secret as Jack sparks trouble
"What I've loved about playing Todd is that actually I get to draw on a little bit of all of that. That's the great variety of Coronation Street.
"I don't think we should lose that villain either. I don't know whether we call it villainy anymore with Todd anyway, but certainly his ability to manipulate people – that hasn't left him.
"It's just that he has been in a period now where he's really trying to be more open, be more genuine and he values his friendships and the people that he loves around him a bit more. He's possibly a bit less flippant about all of those things."
Coronation Street has recently brought back Eileen's sister Julie Carp, with Katy Cavanagh reprising the role for a guest stint.
Related: Coronation Street star teases Todd's "quite exciting" new romance
Julie has revealed that she's been diagnosed with terminal cancer and this emotional story will pave the way for Eileen's upcoming departure.
Gareth added: "Katy is just gorgeous, such a wonderful actor and she's just slipped straight back into playing Julie seamlessly.
"I suppose there could have been an opportunity for that to have been more difficult, in that Tony Maudsley (George) and I weren't in the show when Julie was last in as a character, and obviously her connection with Todd was with a different actor as well.
"But she's such a wonderful actress, such a generous actress, so open that there hasn't been any sense of seeing the joins. We've just absolutely slotted straight back in together.
Related: 13 huge Coronation Street spoilers for next week
"I think what's lovely with Julie is that there's actually quite a nice softness and connection that Todd gets. Todd gets something quite different from Julie that he maybe doesn't entirely get from his own mum. We've had some nice senses of a softness between Julie and Todd.
"Love is absolutely at the core of Todd and Eileen's relationship, but it is heavily masked by that sarcastic banter and they do absolutely go at each other like vipers sometimes, but it's because they're so alike. Todd is very much who he is because of who his mum is."
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
