Coronation Street hairdresser Maria Connor is set to have her heart broken again when she catches boyfriend Marcus Dent in bed with Todd Grimshaw.
Gay nurse Marcus, played by Charlie Condou, fell in love with female friend Maria (Samia Ghadie) and the pair are planning to buy a house together. But Maria is devastated when she walks in on Marcus and Todd (Bruno Langley) together in the house they were planning make their family home.
The storyline will mark the start of Charlie's exit from Coronation Street as he has announced he is leaving the cobbles this year. But it will also spark the start of a breakdown for Maria.
Coronation Street producer Stuart Blackburn explained: "Maria's world is going to be ripped apart - completely ripped apart. She's a woman on the edge of a mental breakdown, a nervous breakdown."
Maria is a single mum to son Liam, named after her late husband, who died when she was still pregnant.
