It's being reported that two Corrie couples are due to split in coming weeks.

It seems guilt will overcome Kirsty Soames (Natalie Gumede) over hitting Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) and she walks out on him and it looks like Carla Connor (Alison King) and Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) will break up when he is reconciled with estranged with Leanne (Jane Danson).

Natalie Gumede told Inside Soap: "Tyrone's planning a surprise birthday party for Kirsty, despite the fact she doesn't want any fuss. He invites her parents along as a nice surprise - but Kirsty's mum and dad have no idea that she's engaged and pregnant. Kirsty's done everything she can to get away from them, particularly her father. That's why they've never been introduced to Tyrone. She's suffered an abusive relationship with her dad. Her behaviour towards Tyrone is a lot like her father's, going through the cycle of apologising and then doing it again. Seeing him again is a proper heart-in-mouth moment."
Kirsty apparently snaps and hits him again and then leaves the next day.

Details of the Carla/ Peter storyline have emerged after pictures were released showing them brawling in the street.

It's not something I really want to think too much about, but Mike Baldwin actor Johnny Briggs is claiming he has had more lovers than his former onscreen nemesis Ken Barlow, played by William Roache.

Talking about Bill's decision to admit to Piers Morgan he'd slept with more than a 1000 women, Johnny, 76, told The Daily Record: "I'm amazed Bill has said that he's slept with that many. What goes on in the bedroom stays in the bedroom.

"I was a bit of a ladies' man myself. I don't know if I can say how many I've bedded but it's probably more than him."

The actor appeared in the ITV soap as knicker factory boss Mike Baldwin for 30 years and was regularly involved in feuds with Ken.

Bill, who turns 80 next month, also revealed a one-night stand with 
Weatherfield legend Pat Phoenix and how his insatiable appetite earned him the 
nickname "C**k Roache" on the set.

He initially admitted he had slept with "more than 100" women.

But when pushed about whether the real figure was nearer 1000, he said: "Well, I'm not denying it."

Johnny also hit out at EastEnders, saying it was little surprise the soap wasn't beating Corrie in the ratings.

He said: "Soaps like EastEnders lose viewers because these young characters that come in for two minutes alienate older viewers."

A couple of weeks ago we discovered that, during a TV interview with Piers Morgan, Corrie's William Roache (Ken Barlow) had claimed to slept with over a thousand women. Well, on the eve of the show's transmission another claim has emerged - that he slept with a co-star after they kissed on-screen.

He wouldn't say which of his fellow actors was the fortunate recipient of his attentions but he did say: "A kiss is a demonstration of affection and it should be sincere and truly meant, but you've got to be careful to keep the lust out of it when you're acting. You can turn lust into love and you can make a kiss truly loving and truly affectionate...a loving and caring kiss without the lust."

No clues there, then. We've had a quick brain-storm at Corrie Blog HQ and can think of at least 10 women who have kissed Ken on-screen. They include Anne Reid, Pamela Craig, Barbara Knox, Judith Barker, Anne Kirkbride (obviously), Roberta Kerr, Amanda Barrie, Jill Kerman, Denise Black and Stephanie Beacham. There are probably more but even we've got better things to do than trawl through Ken's past loves all morning!

We'll leave it to you lot to decide amongst yourselves who the most likely candidate is.

It's not been long since medical staff had to go to the Corrie set to take care of Sue Cleaver, well it seems they've been back again to attend to her.

Last time they were there because she suffered a diabetes-related collapse, this time she was chinned by co-star Judy Holt, who plays Alzheimer's sufferer Lesley Kershaw.

The pair were performing a scuffle for the cameras when Lesley accidentally lamped Sue. She hit the deck and a doctor had to check a bump on her head. After some recuperation time she was back up and on the go.

Seeing as Eileen met fireman boyfriend Paul when he was called to the street to free her head from railings, does Sue keep flaking out because she's got a thing for medical staff? Only joking.

While we have heard Carla Connor's brother mentioned onscreen a few times, he has never made an appearance in Weatherfield. Well all that is about to change as it transpires that Corrie bosses are casting round for the right actor to take the part.

An ITV spokesman confirmed: "We are seeing lots of different actors over the next week or so. We have got some exciting storylines lined up for Carla's brother. He is a character the fans have been keen to meet for some time."

So, Carla may soon be taking a break from rape and murder storylines to spend some time rowing about who gets the top bunk.

There are reports emerging that Corrie's favourite on/off/on/affair/off/on/affair/illegitimate baby/off again relationship is soon to be back on. Kevin and Sally have been on and off more times than the Blackpool illuminations and after his affair with Molly Dobbs and the resultant lovechild (Jack - whatever happened to him?) it looked like they may have spilt for good, but after Sally's most recent lover Frank Foster met a sticky end the couple come back together.

The ever-reliable Corrie 'source' (one day we'll find out his/ her name and send a thank you note) is quoted by the Mirror as saying: 'After all the violence there is a happy outcome on the horizon. Kevin and Sally realise they are meant for one another. There will be some tearjerking scenes as Sally slowly begins to realise Kevin thinks the world of her. It won't be long before she looks on Kevin as her rock which will delight people who want them to become an item again.'

It's not just been an emotional couple of years for Sally and Kevin, their real-life alter egos - Sally Dyvenor and Michael Le Vell - have also been through the wringer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, from which she thankfully made a full recovery, and he recently faced a police investigation for rape, something for which he was completely exonerated. It's been just as dramatic as Weatherfield.

The Sun is claiming that Corrie bosses brought in Manchester CID to help ensure the Frank Foster murder plot was handled correctly. After criticism about factual inaccuracies in the recent rape trial story the paper says our old friend the 'insider' told them: This is such a big storyline that we wanted to make sure that every little detail was spot on. So we have taken advice from the experts. Obviously these scripts are closely guarded so we've sworn the police to secrecy..."

They also have a quote from a Corrie spokesman (presumably a different person), who said: 'We always work closely with experts in any particular field to make sure our storylines are realistic.'

In other news, it would appear that the entire planet think it was Frank's mother Anne that killed Frank. We start saying 'told you so' next week.

With Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) secretly dating conman lothario Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers), much to the disapproval of daughter Gail (Helen Worth) and grandson David (Jack P Shepherd), it should come as no surprise that Audrey's plans to free up salon funds to go round with Lewis are met with much hostility.

Audrey had previously signed the salon over to David and so needs him to transfer ownership back into her name but both he and Gail are convinced that Lewis is once again conning Audrey and refuse.

Who's right? Who's wrong? Who cutting hair while all this malarkey is going on. We'll have to wait and see.

Remember when Brookside's Jimmy Corkhill became a heroin junkie? Months of him stealing from his family and listening to his wife scream 'where's me leccy money, Jimmy'? A genuine social problem it may be but even for a soap as dour as Brookie it lead to whole new levels of dourness.

Now Corrie looks set to go one further by making Sophie Webster a crack addict.

According to a piece today in the Mirror, Sophie (Brooke Vincent) will be introduced to the drug by Ryan Connor (Ben Thompson) who is returning to Weatherfield from university. How much of this is true is still unknown but the Mirror is quoting the ever-dependable Corrie 'source' as saying: 'This storyline would be one of the most shocking the soap has ever tackled, and there is a real fear among some of the crew that it could be too much for some of the more traditional viewers.'

In our experience, the next statement sounds nothing like the sort of thing a Corrie source would say, being far too opinionated: 'For many people Coronation Street remains a national institution and long-term fans love the portrayal of working-class life in a northern town. Scenes such as these are likely to be far too edgy for many. As well as the older fans, families sit down to watch Corrie together with their children next to them and these scenes will air well before the 9pm watershed.'

See? Too preachy. Sounds more like the Mirror inventing quotes to suit an agenda. That's not to say that the original leak isn't true and if it is then the crack storyline risks being either unnecessarily heavy-handed or (more likely) just unsuitable for Corrie. We shall see....

With Audrey Roberts set to rekindle her romance with conman Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers), actress Sue Nicholls has been talking to ITV.com about how her character's family will react to the news.

Audrey first tries to keep the relationship from daughter Gail as she knows what her reaction will be. Sue said: 'The secret affair is quite exciting. Nobody should know about it, because they're giving Lewis such stick. It's rather difficult, really, as Weatherfield is quite a small community. There aren't many roads, so trying to keep away from the family is quite a difficult process. But they do have quite a lot of fun to begin with.'

This being Weatherfield, though, nothing stays under wraps for long. Sue added: 'When the secret does eventually come out, it really is splat at the Platts', I can tell you! There's a lot of harsh words from both sides.'

Another day, another move toward Anne Foster as the killer of son Frank.

Website Digital Spy polled their readers regarding the current Corrie murder storyline and more than half (actually 57.5%) said they didn't believe it will turn out to be any of the 5 main suspects that ITV have been touting for the past few weeks.

20,000 people voted in the poll and the results would seem to suggest that, despite massive media coverage of the story, viewers have not been convinced that a major character would be written out of the soap.

Anne Foster (played by Gwen Taylor) is the most popular ulterior suspect named by voters, followed by Frank's newest business partner Jenny Sumner (Niky Wardley), although it's hard to see what her motive would be.

Of course, this could all be an Agatha Christie-style double bluff and it could turn out that all 5 of the main suspects are guilty. These are tough financial times and that outcome would allow Corrie bosses to slash at least 5 wage bills. Just a thought.

The theory that the Corrie killer of Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel) will turn out to be his own mother was backed today by the Loose Women and their audience.

While interviewing Kym Marsh (who plays suspect Michelle Connor) about the current whodunit storyline host Carol Vorderman said that she thought it would turn out to be Anne (Gwen Taylor). The other panellists agreed and the audience demonstrated their approval with cheers and applause. Kym marsh played dumb.

Anne as the killer is our favourite outcome and one we've been backing for a couple of weeks now. Obviously, a bit of gossip on a daytime TV show goes no way to confirming the theory but at least the option seems to be gathering momentum.

We find out who the killer is in a couple of weeks.

There are rumours circulating that former Brookside and Royle Family star Sue Johnston may be about to sign a deal to appear in Corrie. Sue did appear in a few episodes of the soap in a minor role in the 1980's before she landed the role of Sheila Grant in Brookie but it looks like she may be heading to Weatherfield to play Rovers landlady Stella Price's mum.

She is probably best known for playing Barbara in the sitcom The Royle Family, something that apparently excited this 'Corrie insider': "Everyone is thrilled. She's a brilliant actress. We can't wait to have a member of the Royle Family walking down those famous cobbles and enjoying a drink in the Rovers."

If it happens it would mean, of course, that the Rovers will be housing a former Eastender (Michelle Collins), a former Emmerdale star (Catherine Tyldesley) and Sue is an ex-Brooksider. Is it slowly turning from a back street Manchester boozer into a soap star refuge?

We may have had to wait months for Corrie bad guy Frank Foster to get his just desserts but it looks like we won't have to wait too long to find out who offed him.

According to Andrew Lancel (who plays Frank) the name of the killer will be revealed before the end of March. He told This Morning: 'It's [in] a few weeks. I think it's within the month [that we find out]. I'll probably get in trouble, but I think it's soon after his funeral.'

Frank is murdered during tonight's double episodes and there are 5 official suspects - Carla Connor, Michelle Connor, Peter Barlow, Sally Webster and Kevin Webster - although the bookies are also offering odds on Kirk and John Stape, especially for stupid people.

We at Corrie Blog are still planting our flag firmly in Anne Foster (so to speak) but some readers are suggesting that Ken Barlow could be possibility. Can't see that one, somehow.

Looks like we should know in a couple of weeks either way.

So, by now you must know that this is the week that Corrie bad guy du jour Frank Foster is murdered. Frank's lifeless body will be found on the floor of the factory and a manhunt begins for the culprit.

Five names are in the frame - Sally Webster, Kevin Webster, Carla Connor, Michelle Connor and Peter Barlow - but it seems very unlikely that the soap would want to lose a major character, so are these names simply being touted around in order to drum up publicity and is there a more likely candidate?

We reckon (based on nothing more than an educated guess) that the murderer will turn out to be Frank's own mum Anne Foster.

Anne has shown herself to be absolutely ruthless and, if you add in her recent bereavement (her husband died) and the fact that she discovers Frank was lying about not raping Carla, we think she might not be in an altogether stable state of mind and is looking like a good bet to lose her substantial temper with her son.

When you add in that Gwen Taylor, who plays Anne, is only retained by the soap on a short-term contract it would make sense for her to be the one to leave Weatherfield.

Not that this will stop Corrie bosses from continuing to throw theories and potential killers at the press for the next couple of weeks. With Corrie hammering Eastenders in the ratings no-one can blame them for pressing home their advantage with a good old fashioned whodunit.

In a particularly deluded moment, Michelle Collins has told The Diary that Corrie fans are now accustomed to her Manchester accent.

Since she appeared as Rovers landlady Stella Price last year, her accent has attracted nothing but disdain from all quarters, but she claims: "It's funny, people now come up to me and say: 'oh your accent is much better now', but I haven't changed a thing! I knew it was always going to be hard for people to adjust to seeing Cindy Beale in the Rovers at first, but I think now viewers have accepted me a bit more, it's great."

Eh? Where is she meeting these people? We haven't yet been able to find a single soul who thinks her accent is good. Or even passable. Just because everyone has stopped banging on about it doesn't mean it's improved, Michelle. Rather than people accepting it, perhaps people are just accepting that it's not going to get any better?

If the rumour mill is to be believed it looks like Corrie's Queen of the corner shop Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) is going to marry again, this time to newly-recovered King of the road Dennis Tanner (Philip Lowrie).

Loyal viewers have been wondering why Dennis's character was resurrected by the soap after decades off-screen, well now it seems it was a slow-burn plan to get Rita a new fella.

Our old friend the 'Corrie source' told the Mirror: "It is the talk of the cast that Rita finds herself falling in love with Dennis - and that she could actually become Mrs Tanner after all those years since Elsie was a fixture around the cobbles. Barbara, like Pat Phoenix, who played Elsie, is a legend and everyone thinks it would be a terrific move for Rita to get married again at this stage in her life. Who would give her away is the big question being asked at the moment - there is one name in the frame to walk her down the aisle or be with her at the registry office and if that materialises there wouldn't be a dry eye up and down the country."

Of course it was also revealed that Dennis had recently jilted a bride at the alter, so he may run true to form and break Rita's heart before returning to being a tramp.

What we really want to know is what Norris thinks of all this.

With Corrie's move to their new Salford Quays set planned for later in the year, it's being reported that the show's bosses are planning to 'stockpile' episodes in case there are any hitches during the flit.

The Sun quote exec producer Kieran Roberts: 'Over the course of the next year we're going to get a little bit further ahead of ourselves than we normally do.'

And the ever-reliable 'source' added: 'Everyone wants the move to go well and as a result we are throwing everything into preparing for it. If that means working round the clock then they will. It is as an extra precaution as Coronation Street has never been off air in its history.'
No word yet as to who will be moving into Corrie's old set but they better make their mind up soon as they risk squatters moving in.

A couple of months ago Antony Cotton, who plays knicker-stitcher and barman Sean Tully on Corrie, was labelled 'Trouble with a capital T' on Twitter by former colleague John Thompson while Antony was in Australia appearing on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. Now two current workmates are involved in a spat with him on the same social network.

The Mirror is reporting that co-stars Jack P Shepherd (David Platt) and Ryan Thomas (Jason Grimshaw) have been trading insults with Antony. Apparently they both accused Antony of being a persistent name-dropper, which lead to him labelling Jack a 'little irritant' who 'needs the money more than me'.

Antony then claimed that his I'm A Celeb campmate Mark Wright had 'hoovered up' all Ryan's personal appearances. This lead to Jack responding 'That's not banter, it's an insult'.

All pretty tame stuff but, as all this bickering is happening in public, it surely can't be to long now before Corrie bosses issue another warning to the cast that they moderate their tweets.

Is it the 23rd of the month already? Must be time for former 'pop singer' and reality TV regular Kerry Katona to try and work a part on Corrie.

It seems like she is determined to manoeuvre herself into Weatherfield and attempts to get the attention of show bosses on a regular basis by crow-barring the notion of her working in the Rovers into virtually every tabloid interview she gives.

This time she is quoted in the Sun as saying: "Imagine it, leopard print jacket, cigarette in me gob, 'All right love, lager and lime?' I'd be right at home. People don't realise how much acting I've done. I was in a comedy drama 'Showbands' which was only shown in Ireland and obviously there's the Iceland adverts."

Well if she wants it so much, we say 'give it her'. Why not give her a role as cellarman in the Rovers only for to be killed by a falling barrel before she gets to utter a word? Then she might shut up about it.

Just a few weeks after returning to Weatherfield Kym Marsh, who plays Michelle Connor, has told PA that she's not sure if her contract will be extended when it expires in June.

She said: 'I've no idea yet, I don't know if they want me to stay, so we'll just have to wait until next year and see what happens. I would like to stay, if it's right for me and right for them I'll definitely stay, but there are two parties involved and it's got to work for everybody'

This seems a strange, almost pre-emptive, strategic interview for Kym to give. Her character was off-screen for most of 2011 and with Michelle's boyfriend Ciaran now written out there really seems little for the character to do. Perhaps she gave the interview and made the comments in an attempt to remind Corrie bosses that she's still there or to try and galvanise support amongst Corrie fans ahead of contract negotiations?

Who knows? Whatever the reason for her comments, come June we'll know if she's staying or not.

Outgoing Corrie actress Sacha Parkinson gave a tearful interview to ITV's This Morning programme as she discussed her departure from the show. Sacha's character Sian Powers has been in Corrie since just 2009 but has quickly become very popular. She is due to leave the street over Xmas and as her and girlfriend Sophie Webster's wedding goes awry.

Speaking about her reason for leaving the soap, Sian said: ''It's just really exciting, to be honest, just going back to auditioning. I'm not scared - maybe in a few months if I don't get anything, I will be. It was just something that I had to do. I was so comfortable there that I could have stayed there for the next 50 years. I'm looking for anything that's interesting - just something different and something to get my teeth into.'

She also gave some details about the forthcoming wedding episodes: 'The last two episodes are around one day. It's not just them getting to the church and it all goes bad. It's happy again, then it's down again, then it's happy again - it goes up and down about three times, and then it's the end.'

Michelle Collins has been talking about her Corrie character's upcoming take over of the Rovers Return. Michelle plays Stella Price and the New Year will see her offered the pub by a cash-strapped Steve McDonald. She said: 'I've had my name above the door for quite a while now as manager, but now she's actually going to own it. They struggle to get the money together to get a mortgage. And they're turned down by a few people because they're 'too old'. But then you'll see what happens. It's quite exciting, being the owner of The Rovers.'

Michelle has been criticised since joining the soap for her admittedly suspect Manchester accent but is happy with the way her character is developing, even going as far as to make a rather over-the-top comparison: 'I'd love to create another iconic character. I think Stella seems to be a bit like the Mother Teresa of Corrie. Suddenly she's everybody's agony aunt. They're injecting a little bit of steeliness into her.'

Former Corrie star John Thomson, who played children's entertainer Jesse Chadwick in the show, has been bad-mouthing former colleague Antony Cotton (who plays knicker stitcher and barman Sean Tully) on his Twitter feed.

Tweeting while watching Antony on ITV's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here he said: 'Antony you nasty piece of work you are doing yourself no favours. Antony Cotton - the truth will out!!' Someone then asked if Antony's complaining in the jungle show was similar to his behaviour on the street John tweeted back that Antony was: 'Trouble with a capital T'.

John joined the soap in 2008 as a love interest for Eileen Grimshaw but was written out in 2010. He has recently been seen on Arctic survival show 71 Degrees North. This lead to him comparing his experience on that show with Antony's in Australia: 'No excuse, I didn't turn on any one in Norway. Antony just go. Do us all a favour.'

Antony has been noticeably uncomfortable on occasion in the jungle and has not been slow in making his feelings plain to his campmates and the TV cameras. He may decide to make his feelings known about John Thompson too, once he finds out what he has been saying about him.

After the heartbreak of finding out his 'son' was actually the result of an affair between his wife and best mate, Corrie's Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) is reportedly going to be a father for real in the New Year. The Daily Star are reporting that after the car crash involving Tyrone, girlfriend Kirsty (Natalie Gumede) and Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan), which we reported yesterday, a hospital check up will reveal that Kirsty is expecting.

Last time Tyrone thought he was a father it turned out that wife Molly had actually impregnated by lothario grease-monkey Kevin Webster. Let's hope Kevin and Kirsty haven't been 'jogging' or Tyrone may well be in for another shock.