This week of Coronation Street has all been building up to tonight’s explosive episode.
Carla Connor (played by Alison King) ran away and suffered a complete psychotic break, and as the hallucinations became too hard to ignore she thought she saw dead Rana Habeeb (Bhavna Lambacchia) and her older brother Aidan Connor (Shayne Ward), who took his own life on the ITV soap last year.
Once Carla was safely confined to the hospital, Gary Windass (Mikey North) snuck in, took his girlfriend Sarah Platt’s (Tina O’Brien) phone out of Carla’s bag, and revealed the truth.
Viewers watched as Gary listened intently to a heartfelt recording he’d left for the woman he loves when he thought his days were numbered as Rick Neelan (Alexander Lincoln) closed in on him.
The message revealed Gary had purposely sabotaged the Underworld factory roof, and as a result killed Rana.
The character proceeded to delete the voicemail and fans can be sure he is set to cause even more trouble on the cobbles as time goes on.
Following the big reveal, actor Mikey shared his thoughts on what’s to come and how he feels about being the next big villain to grace Weatherfield.
“I found out a good few months ago,” he shared first. “It’s been hard keeping it under wraps for so long, it’s been helpful that Gary’s been off the radar really, you never really thought that he was the number one suspect.
“There’s been little bits brought in, his reaction when Sarah asked him about it was maybe a slight signpost to his guilt but it’s been helped by the fact he was under the radar.
“If you watch it back now though you will see subtle clues that it was him. You’ll see him in the background watching Imran go about his work and he’s looking pretty guilty.”
Asked whether Gary is consumed by his guilt, Mikey said it’s an up and down journey for his character.
“There are moments when he’s so weighed down by it but Gary comes out fighting,” he explained. “He’s desperate to hold onto Sarah and he’s suddenly got even bigger things to worry about with Rick.
“One problem is suddenly eclipsed by another. If he thought things were bad after the factory collapse then life is about to get a whole lot worse for Gary.
While Mikey insisted Gary isn’t evil the way the legendary Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre) was, Gary could lose control and end up paying a huge price for his actions.
Will he exit or go to prison? Mikey revealed the thought of his role being in jeopardy did come to the surface.
“It did cross my mind,” he admitted. “But as an actor you have to relish being given these storylines and I’m so excited to see what they’re going to throw at me.
“I’ve been here for over 10 years now and this is the most exciting period of time in Gary’s life. You want big storylines so I’ll take whatever they can throw at me.
“I don’t think Gary has any intention of being caught for a long time yet and he won’t go down without a fight that’s for sure. The stakes are high now for Gary and he’s got nothing to lose.
“This is the start of the next chapter in Gary’s life and I can’t wait to get stuck in and see what the writers have in store for him,” the star added. “Bring it on I say.”
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Coronation Street continues Monday at 7.30pm on ITV.