Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street star Joe Layton has addressed his character's brutal murder twist for the first time – revealing that it was always the plan for Mick Michaelis to kill Craig Tinker.
The show's new villain showed his horrifying true colours this week as he violently attacked Craig with a bat and left him for dead. Tragically, Craig later died from his injuries in hospital.
Mick has now been arrested and charged with the crime, and upcoming scenes see him held on remand ahead of the trial.
Despite all evidence pointing to him as the culprit, Mick is still putting up a fight by falsely claiming that he's been stitched up by the police.
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Speaking about the shocking storyline for the first time, Joe told us: "I knew when I got the offer through that it was going to involve killing someone. When I had the Zoom chat with [Corrie producer] Kate Brooks, she said it was going to be Craig.
"Then on my first day, I arrived in the green room and met Colson Smith. He said: 'I think you're gonna kill me!' I said: 'I think I might'.
"Also, credit to Colson because everyone at Coronation Street has been really lovely, but Colson in particular has been so kind and welcoming to me.
"If I put myself in Colson's shoes, there’s loads of different things going on for him, having been on the soap for so long and Corrie being part of who he is, really. So for him to be so welcoming is a credit to Colson, really."
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He continued: "I think Mick has gone beyond the point of no return. Now that he knows Craig is dead, he feels huge fear and shock. It's a massive cauldron of emotions."
Joe also discussed the possibility of a fan backlash now that his character has killed such a kind-hearted figure.
"I don’t know what to expect really – Mick is clearly not well liked," Joe admitted.
"Part of that is down to the writing and also the way in which Mick interacts with a lot of people who are known to be leaving the show. It feels like Russian roulette – you spin the barrel and who's going to get it?
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"So not only will they be angry about Craig, but there might be a build-up of other things. I don't think they will be pleased about the stuff that's happened with Liam Connor either, but I hope they realise it's a character and I'm not Mick. I'm sure he will be hated!"
Joe also praised the Corrie team for their sensitive support when he and Colson were filming Mick's vicious attack on Craig.
"Kate Waters, our fight director, was with us when we shot the scene where Craig is killed," he explained.
"Duncan Foster was the episode director and he is such a brilliant director. A lot of it is down to him and the crew creating an atmosphere that is safe and calm. That gives both actors space to get into the headspaces they need to go to.
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"That whole filming block was incredibly intense and emotional. I listen to a lot of music and try to relax. I'm generally quite quiet and I keep myself to myself, but that's facilitated through the crew, the first AD, and Duncan the director understanding the nature of the scenes.
"Actors are all really different. Amazing directors can get a read on an actor and sense what they need. Duncan did that for me and I was very grateful to him."
Don't miss our 14 huge Coronation Street spoilers for next week
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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