The actor, who plays Kevin Webster in Coronation street,  said the affair with Molly (Vicky Binns) will last ‘12 to 15 months’.

Michael said: “There’s a lot more twists to come yet – it’s not as just straightforward as a fling or a full blown affair, it goes a lot deeper than that and is a lot more involved obviously.”

According to The Sun, Molly and Kevin’s romance will be rekindled later this year when they have a dirty weekend in Chester.

Molly will apparently tell grease monkey husband Tyrone (Alan Halsall) that she and Kevin are going to Glasgow to run 10km for charity.

But it seems the cheating pair use the opportunity to get intimate in the bedroom instead.

Maria returns from her short stay in Ireland and breaks the news to Tony that she’s found a quaint cottage that she’s interested in buying. Tony fails to deter her from going, and turning to Fiz (Jennie McAlpine), Maria finally confides that she’s in love with Tony.

Spurred on by Fiz’s words of wisdom, Maria’s determined to tell Tony exactly how she feels but bottles out at the last minute. It’s up to Tony to seize the moment and declare his love for the woman he widowed, and when he does, they quickly fall into a passionate embrace.< DS

The star – sexy Rosie Webster in the soap – has been close to tears on the set since breaking up with builder Daniel Scott.

A source close to the actress, who turned 19 on Friday, said: “Helen’s devastated. He was her first love. She thought they would be together forever, but it wasn’t to be. I think Helen thought Dan would be the man she would marry.”

The source added: “She’s taken the split really hard. She has been turning up to work really upset, then locking herself in her room at night. Her co-stars are really worried.”

Helen – who’s had on-screen flings with her teacher and boss since arriving in Weatherfield in 2000 – had been dating Dan, 22, for just over a year after they met in the sauna of a local gym.

They set up home in a rented flat close to the studios after just three months together. At the time, Helen revealed her mum Julia thought she was crazy, but she gushed: “He’s the love of my life. It was a bit quick but we’re pretty much inseparable now.”

Helen declined to talk about the split yesterday. But Daniel said: “I’m really down about it. We split up a week ago. It was a mutual decision and no one else was involved.”

Meanwhile, a jealous Rosie wants to know what Michelle has that she doesn’t. Amused by her petulance, Luke fails to take Rosie seriously and she leaves The Rovers in a huff. Luke bumps into Michelle and is delighted when she invites him back to No. 7.

Gail frantically searches for Joe and asks Audrey if she’s seen him, completely unaware of the desperate measures Joe has stooped to…

Over at the medical centre, Joe uses Gail’s keys to let himself in but he hadn’t bargained on the alarm being set.

He’s in a terrible state and, sweating profusely, he takes a sledgehammer to the alarm panel. But as the sirens continues, Joe smashes up the pharmacy in a desperate search for painkillers.

Back at the house, Gail realises that the medical centre alarm is sounding. When she discovers her keys to the centre have disappeared from her handbag, she rushes down the street towards the doctors where she finds a tearful and trembling Joe inside. She’s devastated as she surveys the damage he’s caused.

Elsewhere, Jason and Tina buy No. 12 at auction at a cost of £54,750.

Tony (Gray O’Brien) was behind the murder of Maria’s husband Liam, and back in January even Maria thought he was behind the death – but he convinced her she was loosing the plot!!.

Samia told itv.com: “The way the storyline’s been playing, it’s been quite a slow burner in the development of feelings for each other, so hopefully it’s been quite believable.”

Speaking about the moment the pair confess their true feelings and kiss, Samia continued: “The moment has finally arrived for them to succumb to how they both feel about each other.

“All those massages and all that lovely food he’s been buying her, it’s kind of wooed her.

“It’s been a massive turnaround in feelings. If you go back to January when she was kind of trying to run him down and throwing red paint all over his car and accusing him of being a murderer. Now she’s sort of ready to set up home with him.”

Coronation Street’s Steve McDonald hasn’t had the best success with weddings. His first to Vicky Arden
(Chloe Newsome) quickly ended in divorce; his second to Karen Phillps (Surannce Jones) occurred after Janice (Vicky Entwhistle) wagered £10 that they’d tie the knot: the third was his ‘proper’ wedding to Karen; the fourth was a failed attempt at marrying an inebriated Becky (Katherine Kelly); and the fifth, current attempt sees Steve – played by 34-year-old Simon Gregson – finally marry Becky in a small family service at the local register office. We recently caught up with Simon to chat about Jim and Andy’s return, the aftermath of the latest nuptials, a potential comeback for Karen and how he feels about becoming a father for the second time.

How many weddings is this now?!
“Five! It’s quite boring – there’s nothing worse than filming a wedding – they take forever! The longest was Steve and Karen’s wedding. We filmed that over four episodes, which I believe was a telly first. It was a nightmare – freezing cold. It was a sandstone building which is basically what the first fridges were. It soaks water up and the water freezes so you’ve got a fridge and we were in it!”

Going to be second time lucky?
“Yes. It all goes according to plan right up until the wedding reception when the cops storm in and then it all goes belly up from there. No-one believes she’s innocent. Steve doesn’t believe she’s innocent. It takes Steve a while to realise the truth. As soon as [the police] burst through the door, there’s an announcement about why they’re there but it’s just a total shock. Steve just thinks ‘this can’t be happening again’.”

What was it like to have Charlie Lawson and Nicholas Cochrane back on set?
“Oh, I was very excited to be working with the pair of them again. I haven’t worked with Nick for a long time. I’ve worked with Charlie in between but not with Nick since Steve and Karen’s wedding. It was good to have them back and great to work with Charlie again because he is a total nutter!”

Steve’s not sure what Becky’s up to at the beginning of the week, is he?
“He thinks that she’s having an affair because she’s acting hugely suspicious. Slug’s turned up out of the blue and even though they’ve already spoken to each other about it, he’s wary of it all. It’s her own bloody fault but as usual it’s all turned round to make it look like Steven’s fault!”

The stag and hen dos are a fairly quiet affair, aren’t they?
“Yeah, it’s like ‘let’s just be sensible’. I don’t know anyone who has a stag do or hen do the night before the wedding – it doesn’t happen, does it? Everyone does it a week or two weeks before! It nearly kills Becky not to drink but she manages it!”

How much have you and Craig enjoyed developing Steve and Lloyd’s friendship?
“I knew Craig before he came into the show. We met a long, long time ago over in Ireland and as soon as we found out we would be working with each other, we just couldn’t wait. We’ve become best mates now. It’s just the same at work as it is when we’re out! It’s not like work at all while we’re filming. If I look on the schedule and it’s just me and Craig [in a scene], I don’t even have to learn the lines – we’ll just do it on set.”

What happens in the aftermath of the wedding?
“Becky’s faced with prison so he’s got no choice but to take Hooch on. He’s a nasty b**tard, played brilliantly by Dominic Carter! Then Steve and Lloyd turn into a really bad Starsky and Hutch trying to track down Slug…”

Do you think Becky’s ‘the one’ for Steve?
“She’s certainly keeping him young and on his toes. I think it’ll last as long as it keeps him on his toes – he’s not really one for settling down. When everything starts to get a bit too comfortable – slippers and pipe – he’s like ‘no, no, no – this is all wrong!’ He doesn’t have a clue when he’s onto a good thing.”

Do you think Steve’s had a positive impact on Becky’s life?
“I think he’s turned it around. She was all over the place getting into trouble all the time but he’s made her grow up. And having a little girl there in Amy, that’s made her grow a bit, too. She’s got responsibilities now. She’s besotted with him. She’s still a total p*sshead, though!”

Will it ever thaw between Michelle and Steve?
“I think that maybe she’ll forgive him at some point but he was pretty bad to her. Maybe if she found someone new herself, she’ll chill out.”

Do you think Steve still thinks about Karen?
“I think Karen crosses his mind every now and again. That was just like being with Boudica – how could you forget? It would be great to work with [Suranne Jones] again but she’s in the real proper acting world now.”

Do you enjoy the more comedic storylines or the more serious storylines?
“Definitely the comedic ones. I don’t mind doing the serious stuff at all. I mean I quite enjoy it – doing the stuff with Dominic’s been really good – but the comedic stuff makes the day go quicker. When you’re having a laugh and the crew are laughing and making Craig laugh, being so ridiculously slapsticky and over-the-top – I mean a lot of the stuff that doesn’t go out should go out. I love doing that.”

How does it feel to be a new dad again?
“Oh, it’s tremendous. The first time was amazing but this is different. You’re kind of in shock for the first one – it’s like ’s**t! Now I’ve got to be dad immediately – you’re here!’ You do it without thinking because of the natural instinct. But the second one – I’d totally forgotten how small and fragile they are. Alfie seems massive now, even though he’s still tiny. But he seems so big compared to Harry.”

Recently, viewers have seen Gail Platt’s love interest Joe McIntyre (Reece Dinsdale) abusing prescription drugs after struggling with a back injury.

Experts at The Priory Group, which operates drug and alcohol treatment centres across the country, have now backed the programme’s decision to tackle the issue on screen.

Dr Ash Kahn told The Sun: “Medication abuse can be very dangerous. Misuse of over-the-counter or prescription drugs can lead to dependence that is physical and mental.”

Dinsdaletold the media that he was quitting Coronation Street last month. His character’s drugs plot paves the way for the kitchen fitter’s exit, which sees his relationship with Gail (Helen Worth) break down.

The actor’s debut scenes, showing Joe reuniting with daughter Tina (Michelle Keegan), aired in May last year.

Coronation Street bosses have cast actress Kirsty-Leigh Porter to play David’s new girlfriend Zoe. Kirsty-Leigh has previously appeared in shows such as The Street, Doctors and Ashes to Ashes.

On winning the role of Zoe, Kirsty-Leigh told us: “I’m absolutely delighted, me and my family have been lifelong Corrie fans and if possible, I think my mum is even more excited than I am! I can’t wait to start working with Jack (Jack P Shepherd) and the rest of the cast.”

David will meet Zoe after he washes her hair in the salon and invites her to attend Tina and Jason’s housewarming party with him. How will Tina react to David turning up with a new woman in tow? It could certainly be a test of her true feelings towards her ex-boyfriend.

The 75-year-old actress – who has played Kabin shopkeeper Rita Sullivan for 37 years – told bosses on Thursday that she needed some time off.

Writers were then forced to quickly alter storylines to explain Rita’s absence.

A Street source said: “Barbara felt bad that she had to go, but she explained it was in no way a serious health issue and that she’d be back. We had no option but to rewrite storylines and also shoot a scene in the Rovers Return to explain why should wouldn’t be around for a while.”

The Weatherfield source wouldn’t reveal how writers will account for her break, but insisted Barbara is expected back at work in the autumn. All the very best Barbara xxx.

Cleaver, who has played the cab controller for nine years, lost most of her family jewellery after crooks raided her home in September 2006.

According to The Sun, she will now relive the incident in a new storyline for the ITV1 soap, which sees Eileen left devastated when precious family keepsakes are stolen from her residence.

Additionally, the mother-of-two’s lover Jesse Chadwick (John Thomson) has his van taken after the thieves find its keys in the house.

A source revealed: “Eileen is left with nothing.”

It is believed that Weatherfield favourites club together to help Eileen after insurers refuse to pay out for the break-in.