Corrie's Ben: 'Nick knows something is going on!'
Coronation Street's Ben Price reveals to Soaplife how Nick wants to replace his Las Vegas wedding to Leanne with a Christmas Day wedding in Weatherfield. But Peter Barlow is still hanging around - and he has Leanne's attention! Does Nick think he's going to lose Leanne to Peter? "In any other walk of life, Peter would be irrelevant to Nick, but where Leanne is concerned he gets to him. Nick loves Leanne, but he also doesn't want Peter to be with Leanne, he couldn't stand him having her." So Nick's worried when Leanne cancels their Las Vegas wedding because of Peter, even though she says they'll marry later on... "He starts to think this isn't going to end well. He can see Peter's got his claws in but doesn't understand why Leanne gives Peter the time of day. Peter left with another woman, he abandoned his own kid, left Leanne to run his business then he comes back and she's torn. Nick realises there's something else going on here." So he books a Christmas Day wedding without consulting Leanne! "Eva and Kylie put him up to it. They tell him it's really romantic and she'll love the grand gesture. But it's also emotional blackmail." And does Leanne love the idea? "I think she feels caught on the hop. But Peter's playing dirty tricks and maybe Nick thinks if Leanne loves him she shouldn't be that bothered about him booking the wedding. I think he's testing her." Then Peter's visit becomes permanent. How does Nick feel about him and Leanne running the bookies together? "Nick doesn't want to cause too much of a ripple so he tells Leanne he's happy if she is. But he knows that while Peter is hanging around things are never going to run smoothly." But Nick's not happy when Leanne and Simon go ice-skating with Peter, is he? "He's gutted! He thinks Peter isn't a good father; he takes his son out of school and tries to buy his affection. Plus, Leanne seems to be taken in by this!" Then Nick misses Simon's nativity play when a big booking comes in - which turns out to be a hoax... "Eva's behind it, but Nick thinks it was Peter and goes to the nativity to sort Peter out." Which doesn't go down well with Leanne... "No. Nick has to apologise and he admits that he made a huge mistake. But he's had enough of being pushed around." Does Nick have any idea that Eva is still obsessed with him? "No, none at all! I don't it occurs to him anyone would go to those lengths, especially when you're hurting your own sister." Does the Christmas Day wedding go well? "Well, it's safe to say it's not going to run smoothly! It's going to be much more of a rocky road than even a rocky road!"
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.