Meet a guy. Nearly cheat on your husband. Get wasted and pass out. Then realise that your drunken almost-hookup has a new job where you work.

We’ve all been there. No? Just Bernie Winter (Jane Hazelgrove) on Coronation Street? Oh dear… The delightfully mismatched marriage of Bernie and Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin)

has seen its fair share of ups and downs, yet there’s been decidedly more down ever since the tragic death of Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) in the Corriedale crash.

Bernie Winter’s bombshell has an impact on Roy Cropper

Losing the man that she considered to be a second son has taken its toll on Bernie, so Dev’s plea not to go down a boozy path of self-destruction fell on deaf ears when she spiralled after the funeral by partying just a little bit too hard…

After one too many shots with the girls, Bernie ended up meeting cobbles newcomer Mal Roper (Tim Treloar), who was clearly giving her signals and suggested taking the party back to his room at the Chariot Square Hotel. Although Bernie rejected his advances, she gave in to another form of temptation in the shape of pills for her and Mal to share.

The next thing she knew, the electrician Roy Cropper (David Neilson) hired to do some rewiring in his flat just so happened to be Mal. Awks! Rattled by the threat to her marriage, Bernie had a quiet word with Mal in the Rovers and made him promise to leave Weatherfield as soon as his work is completed.

However, it turns out the sparky electrician has another reason for being in Weatherfield – and that reason is Roy.

Ever since the quirky proprietor of Roy’s Rolls was wrongfully accused of Lauren Bolton’s (Cait Fitton) not-really-murder and did a spell behind bars, he’s been writing letters to prisoners to make them feel less alone. This is how he became pen-pals with the mysterious Alice, leading to a tentatively blossoming romance with a woman he’s never even met.

You can see where this is going.

That’s right. Mal is Alice’s husband. He was none too happy to discover that his wife was getting flowers from another man… and showed his displeasure by punching Roy in the face.

But despite his outrage over his spouse’s infidelity, Mal’s more than happy to pursue Bernie. In upcoming scenes, the presence of her dirty secret on the cobbles finally drives Bernie to confess everything to her daughter Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) – with explosive consequences.

When Mal passes through the café on his way up to the flat, Bernie’s in a tight spot when he’s recognised by Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott).

Uneasy, she explains that Mal is an electrician doing some work for Roy and she’d be grateful if he didn’t mention the incident at the hotel to anyone else. But then Gemma makes the connection and is horrified to realise that Mal is the bloke her mum almost cheated on Dev with.

Horrified, Gemma implores Bernie to come clean to Dev before he hears it from someone else. Will Bernie take Gemma’s advice?

When Bernie meets up with Dev, Mal watches them together. Then he makes out to Roy that the flat needs a complete re-wire. It looks like Mal is determined to stick around.

This is the second time Bernie’s been in a dark place due to the death of a loved one. She lost her son Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) to Motor Neurone Disease in 2023. Executive producer Kate Brooks recently revealed how Bernie’s grief over Billy will fuel her next big story, which will rock her relationship with Dev.

‘We wanted to explore what would happen if she had to deal with another really tragic death and how that grief manifests’. Kate explains.

‘We take Bernie on a really interesting journey as she struggles. It gets to the point where, because it’s been bubbling for such a long time, it actually kind of erupts. When it does, there’s consequences for Bernie. It’s not as straightforward as Dev sweeping in and making everything OK. It’s a really muddy, murky story that we take her on and we see another side to Bernie that we’ve not seen yet.’

‘Obviously it’s going to be a test for Bernie and Dev. They are a really strong couple and no matter what we throw at them, they can overcome because they love each other. They absolutely adore each other.’

And we adore them! So don’t split them up, please!