Coronation Street's recent grooming storyline between "creepy" Nathan and Bethany Platt have taken a dark turn
Coronation Street viewers have been wary of Nathan Curtis since he turned up on the cobbles on Christmas Day last year.
After seeing the way his was leering at young Bethany Platt in that first appearance, our suspicions were confirmed when the 30-something-year-old began a relationship with the 16-year-old Bethany in a grooming storyline, leading viewers to dub him "creepy Nathan".
But the storyline took a turn for the even worse last night, as Creepy Nathan introduced Bethany to all his "friends" at a party.
Dressed up in a red dress with her make-up and hair done, Bethany certainly looked older than her 16 years.
An equally Creepy Friend asks after Bethany, saying: "She's certainly dressed the part. I'd like to get to know her better."
Nathan responds: "I promise you, when she's ready, you will be the first to know," giving the man a disgusting wink.
Wait a minute - does this mean Creepy Nathan is planning on pimping out Bethany to his friends?!
Creepy Friend then leers at Bethany and says: "Right, cheers."
Oh GOD. It's stomach-turning.
Poor old naive, oblivious Bethany then comments to Nathan: "I was worried that no-one would want to talk to me, but your mate was dead nice," pointing to the terrifying Creepy Friend, who watches on with a smirk on his face.
Creepy Nathan then says: "My mates are nice! Trust me, they'll LOVE you once they get to know you..."
Cue Corrie viewers everywhere shuddering in their sofas as the hideous truth is revealed.
Fans were absolutely horrified by the storyline, with one saying it was "too dark and creepy".
One fan even said it should be "taken off air", and many commented that it shouldn't be shown pre-watershed.
But many leapt to the defence of the soap, saying that it was important to show it when children were more likely to see.
Lucy Fallon and Christopher Harper appeared on Lorraine earlier this year and defended the choice to air the scenes pre-watershed.
Lucy said: "It's so important that we do it at this time, because we're targeting people who watch Coronation Street that are quite young. They're the people that we want to target so it's so important that it's on at that time."
Christopher added: "The really key thing is to start the conversation whether it's your son or your daughter and you've got concerns, or whether you yourself have been abused in the past."
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