Fans finally saw the teen back in the ITV soap, months after she went missing from Weatherfield

Coronation Street star Cait Fitton has said it’s been ‘virtually impossible’ to respond to the sheer amount of messages she has received since her return to the show as Lauren Bolton. Fans finally saw the teen back in the ITV soap, months after she went missing from Weatherfield.

Lauren was presumed dead following her sudden disappearance back in February. She went missing after being sacked from her job at Roys Rolls and later being visited by a mystery person, who viewers never got to see.

However, three months after she left without a trace, in May, it was confirmed that it was Joel Deering who was behind her disappearance – not Roy Cropper as DS Lisa Swain decided when she charged him with Lauren’s murder.

A flashback clip revealed to the solicitor as being Lauren’s secret ‘boyfriend’ and saw him brutally attack her with a chair leg. But it wasn’t until this week that Lauren was confirmed to have survived the brutal bashing and was seen at Roy’s bedside after he suffered a heart attack.

But it wasn’t until Tuesday night (July 9) that Corrie fans were showed what really happened between Lauren and Joel in the lead-up to his shocking attack when, as tried to make an exit from the hospital undetected, she was grabbed by Joel, played by Calum Lill, who covered her mouth to stop her screams and dragged her into a family room where they had an intense confrontation.

With flashback clips throughout, viewers saw how Joel started helping Lauren with her bills, before getting her to sleep with him in return for money and gifts. But it was when she tried to end things once and for all, and threatened to tell his fiancée Dee-Dee Bailey that Joel snapped and attacked her.

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Joel appeared to go to hurt Lauren once again but as she cowered and clutched her stomach, her attacker spotted her baby bump, confirming she is pregnant with his child. She then had to do another runner from Joel, managing to escape into a taxi outside the hospital.

There was an outpouring of comments following the scenes, with some hailing it the ‘best episode in a long time’. And it appears Cait couldn’t keep up with the love and support.

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday evening (July 10) as the dust settled on the dramatic episode of the long-running soap, Cait said: “What an episode it was last night on @coronationstreet! Want to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s reached out and shown their support on Lauren and the storyline.

“My phone has seriously blown up with messages and I am slowly trying to work through them all! It’s virtually impossible to respond to all of them but it’s important for everyone to know that I’ve acknowledged the love and messages and I’m super grateful to all of you!”

She added: “You can catch the full episode of Lauren’s return on ITVX! Make sure you tune in to see what happens next! If you or someone you know has been affected by issues covered in our programmes please visit https://www.itv.com/advice.”