Sue Cleaver reveals to Soaplife that Eileen’s beginning to wonder if her relationship with Paul can survive his race row with Lloyd after he thumps him in Coronation Street…
Does Eileen see Paul hit Lloyd?
"No. Paul’s in the pub when he finds out someone’s reported him to the fire brigade for racism. He’s convinced it was Lloyd so he follows him out of the Rovers, has a go at him and then punches him. Eileen’s furious when she hears about it."
Was it Lloyd who dropped Paul in it at work?
"No. It turns out that Sophie, girlfriend of Lloyd’s daughter Jenna, made the call in a show of support. Eileen’s really angry about this, too, because things had started to settle down between Paul and Lloyd. Now they’ve flared up again."
And Paul’s arrested!
"Yes. The police are called and Paul’s taken to the station."
Will Eileen support Paul now?
"I doubt she’ll have any sympathy. It’s gone past that. She has never believed Paul is racist, she knows it was an ignorant use of racist language, but it’s the way he’s acted afterwards that’s caused the problems. She had persuaded him to be civil to Lloyd, but every time it looked like it was resolved something else happened to make the row carry on. Now Paul’s job is at risk and the police have got involved so there is very little she can say or do."
Is this a new Paul she’s seeing?
"She’s always known he’s stubborn, but she’s not used to the anger and violence coming from him."
Is their wedding still on?
"It’s still planned, but all this has taken the shine off for Eileen. She can’t focus until it’s sorted. Eileen is not the sort of woman who ever has any real luck, though, so it doesn’t bode well for them!"
