Coronation Street actor Jonathan Howard, who plays Carl Webster on the ITV soap, revealed there was a viewer ‘rift’ over unexpected scenes between Carl and James Bailey
21:00, 30 Sep 2025Updated 21:38, 30 Sep 2025
One Coronation Street actor has praised the ITV soap for its “brave” storylines that “push boundaries”.
Referencing a recent twist involving his character, that he said caused a “rift” amongst viewers, actor Jonathan Howard backed the soap for forcing conversations that need to be had. As he teased more twists to come, he talked about the moment his character was revealed to be bisexual onscreen with Jonathan saying the moment caused quite a fuss.
While several viewers did not see the twist coming as Carl was revealed to be having a fling with James Bailey amid his other fling with sister-in-law Abi Franklin, Jonathan revealed he’s glad soaps like Corrie tell these stories, even when the audience do not seem keen.
Referencing the Carl and James twist, Jonathan suggested to the Mirror that some of the reaction he had seen opposed the plot, as he discussed some viewers “not liking” the soap tackling storylines that other shows “don’t want to tell”.
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Jonathan Howard backed the soap for forcing conversations that need to be had(Image: ITV)
He said: “They go for the braver storylines that people don’t wanna tell. Not all the audience likes that. For example, my character suddenly being bisexual, it caused a lot of rift with the fans watching.
“I think it’s good because Coronation Street like all the soaps are on TV every night and people are watching it. So if we’re not pushing the boundaries to create discussion around the dinner table… Corrie and all the soaps are a great place to do that.
“The mum and dad are watching it, Grandma’s watching it, the kids are watching it. So you have a bisexual storyline, you have a transgender storyline, or you have these storylines, then suddenly the family are forced to talk about it which I think is a good thing.”
Coronation Street actor Jonathan Howard, who plays Carl Webster on the ITV soap, revealed there was a viewer ‘rift’ over unexpected scenes between Carl and James Bailey(Image: ITV)
Jonathan also praised the soap’s “really brave” past storyline that saw Hayley Cropper debut in 1998, as the first transgender character in a major British soap. He shared of who he thought were the most iconic Corrie characters: “Roy and Hayley.
“To do that transgender storyline 20 years ago was really brave and I think we need more storylines like that.” Jonathan also teased more drama ahead for the Websters, including possible new scenes with Carl and James.
He said: “In the next few months the Websters’ web is gonna get a bit more complicated. It’s really fun to play, there’s always something going on and then obviously you have the James Bailey stuff coming along too.”
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