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Coronation Street spoilers as villain Rob Donovan set for steamy prison affair storyline

The Rob Donovan storyline is only set to take another dramatic turn.

Rob with Carla in Coronation Street

ITV

Published: Sunday, 19 January 2025 at 12:37 pm

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Since Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis) returned to Coronation Street just last month, there's been plenty of drama in store for the imprisoned character.

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Behind bars for the murder of Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) back in 2014, Rob came back onto our screens as part of his sister Carla Connor's (Alison King) wider kidney transplant story.

But things are set to get steamy for Rob as it's been reported that the character will be caught up in a love affair with a prison guard. According to The Sun, former Shameless actress Rebecca Atkinson will play the prison officer in question, Mandy.

The affair is described by the paper's source as "a much-needed risqué plotline," adding that viewers "will have to wait and see whether or not Mandy gets caught by prison bosses."

ITV declined to comment when approached by RadioTimes.com.

Seamus McGoff as Matty Radcliffe holds Rebecca Atkinson as Mandy hostage in the prison visiting room as Jack Carroll as Bobby Donovan looks on while seated and Marc Baylis stands watching as Rob Donovan in Coronation Street.

Rebecca Atkinson's Mandy was recently held hostage by Matty Radcliffe (Seamus McGoff). ITV

Atkinson is best known for playing Karen Maguire in Shameless from 2004 to 2013, having also gone on to star in River City, Flatmates and Silent Witness.

Rob's unexpected return to the soap has already taken a dramatic turn after last week's episodes saw him stage a dramatic hostage situation with fellow prisoner Matty Radcliffe (Seamus McGoff).

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Pulling out a knife and grabbing a prison guard, Matty was eventually intercepted by Rob who appeared to save the day and, in the process, redeem his image for his son Bobby (Jack Carroll).

But as ever the cunning character, it was revealed that Rob had orchestrated the whole potentially life-threatening scenario, pointing to a much wider game plan.

As to whether or not his dalliances with Mandy are all part of it, we'll just have to wait and see. Something tells us, though, that Rob won't be spending time on building a romantic connection unless it benefits him on a bigger scale so there very well could be some more high-stakes prison scenes on the cards.

Read more:

Visit our dedicated Coronation Street page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Morgan Cormack, smiling against a lime green background

Morgan CormackDrama Writer

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.

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