In March last year in Coronation Street, Todd Grimshaw’s (Gareth Pierce) eyes lit up when he bumped into a scaffolder called Theo Silverton (James Cartwright).

Over the next couple of days, Todd and Theo spent time together. Todd believed he was connecting with Theo on a romantic level, but got confused when Theo told him that he isn’t gay.

Todd then found Theo on a dating app, but he had no idea at the time that it would be the start of a very complicated, dark and abusive story.

Throughout a lot of 2025, we learnt about Theo’s past and how he suppressed his sexuality after going through conversion therapy. Theo ultimately wanted to be with Todd, which meant divorcing wife Danielle (Natalie Anderson) and moving out of the family home.

As time ticked on, it became apparent that Theo liked being in control of things. This aspect of his personality started to trickle into his dynamic with Todd, and viewers found him – at the start – subtly manipulating his boyfriend and ensuring situations unfolded in a way that left him satisfied.

When this didn’t happen and Theo became angry at something, his controlling behaviour would increase. The first sign that Theo was capable of physically abusing Todd as well as mentally was when he forced fed him a kebab.

Since then, we’ve watched in horror as Theo has continued to isolate Todd from his loved ones, as well as abuse him when things don’t go his way.

One person who picked up on the relationship being toxic was Todd’s ex and close friend Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank). He had his suspicions, but it was seeing Todd’s stomach covered in bruises that confirmed his friend was being abused.

During the episode of the soap before Corriedale, Todd asked for Billy’s help and wanted to leave Debbie Webster’s (Sue Devaney) wedding early. The duo got into the minibus with a number of other residents who wanted to head home. Unfortunately, just before they set off, Theo arrived.

Theo sat beside Todd, who was practically shaking in fear. The group inside the minibus were then involved in the chaotic multi-vehicle pile up, which involved characters from Emmerdale as well.

Billy lost his life during this because Theo trapped him in his seat. The minibus exploded with Billy inside, killing him instantly.

It was heartbreaking but even more so for Todd, who has now lost the person who was determined to help him escape Theo.

A lot lies ahead for both Todd and Theo in 2026, as producer of the show Kate Brooks revealed recently:

‘Going forward it’s a very complicated place that Todd finds himself in. He was ready to leave, albeit he was very terrified. He confided in Billy, reluctantly, though he still didn’t fully realise the extent of his abuse. He’s very wrapped up in his grief, post Billy’s death, so as we go forward into 2026 Todd’s all over the shop. He doesn’t feel like he’s got the strength to go through with leaving Theo.

‘He’s feeling really worthless and feeling like if he hadn’t spoken to Billy that night about what happened, maybe Billy could still be alive. That’s what Theo homes in on. Todd is still quite vulnerable and needing someone to lift him up.’

Kate continued her chat, opening up about how Billy’s death is going to impact Theo:

‘We’ll see Theo, who is obviously ravaged by his own guilt – yes he did something absolutely despicable but he justifies it as being absolutely necessary to keep hold of Todd. Because he does, in his own very warped, very unhinged and tarnished way, deep down love Todd, he does everything he can to be an absolute pillar of support for Todd, Summer and George. He’s an absolute rock.

‘Part of this is about masking his own guilt that he feels about his part in Billy’s death, but he also knows how close he came to losing Todd so he wants to do everything he can to make sure he doesn’t lose Todd again.’

She added: ‘We’ll see Theo becoming more manipulative, we’ll see him starting to draw and pull Todd back into his fold as Todd needs him and needs that support. He feels like he needs somebody to keep him afloat and Theo is that person.

‘Not only is he an absolute lifeline for Todd, but he proves to be an absolute lifeline for Summer and George as well. Obviously we know what Theo’s like, we know what he’s capable of, we know the hell he’s been putting Todd through, but we also know that Todd is extremely vulnerable and he’s exposed at this point.

Reflecting on the importance of telling this story over a long period of time, Kate pondered: ‘We wanted to play the truth of this story. It’s not something that’s wrapped up after a couple of months, this is ongoing. As we go into early new year, Todd and Theo are still front and centre of the show as we continue to tell the story about this domestic abuse truthfully and realistically. It’s a hard watch at times, I’m not going to lie, as was proven by the Behind Closed Doors episode, but it’s an important story to tell.

I think both actors are absolutely smashing it out of the park in terms of the nuance they’re bringing to these roles. They’re making the story unmissable and captivating and hard to look away from.

She noted: ‘So we’ll be continuing with Todd and Theo going forward but obviously we can’t sustain this forever and certainly Todd will start to realise that maybe all is not what it seems, as will other people around Todd. Todd’s got a great kind of surrogate family around him. He’s got George who he absolutely adores, he’s got Summer, he’s got Christina now, he’s got Sarah, his BFF for life, and Gary as well by default.

‘So there are people starting to look out for Todd and they’ll realise he’s not behaving how he should be behaving and he’s becoming a broken shadow of the person he once was.

‘It’s how they deal with that, how they rally, how they approach something so delicate and sensitive, which will be how we explore that story further.’