Coronation Street boss says Nina and Seb story has been 'planned for years'

Coronation Street's executive producer has revealed that the hate crime storyline involving Seb Franklin and Nina Lucas has been planned for years.

Iain MacLeod admitted the plot has been in the pipeline for quite some time and that bosses felt it was "something that really needed to be told".

On Wednesday, Corrie fans watched on in horror as Corey Brent (Maximus Evans) and his nasty friends set upon Seb (Harry Visinoni) and Nina (Mollie Gallagher) in a dark alley and left them both fighting for their lives in hospital.

Speaking about the horrific storyline, MacLeod explained: "A couple of years ago, a story of this type was floating around the writers' room and it just felt like it was something that really needed to be told.

Corrie's executive producer has revealed that the hate crime storyline involving Seb Franklin and Nina Lucas has been planned for years (PA)

"It felt like it was something that sits very well in the soap genre and, albeit we don't set out to change the world, we can be quite an agenda-setting genre and it felt like the message of the story around tolerance and inclusion and the need for more of that more so now than ever was incredibly pressing."

Nina was first introduced back in 2019 as the daughter of Roy's half brother Richard, and MacLeod confirmed that even back then, Corrie bosses knew which direction her story would take.

Corrie bosses felt the story was 'something that really needed to be told' (ITV)

"We embedded her as deeply into the show as we possibly could with a view of doing this story with her at a point where we thought it would be really powerful with a character we'd fallen in love over a number of years, being in the middle of something so heartbreaking and tragic and visceral," he added to Digital Spy.

But fans still aren't sure just how tragic the outcome will be for Seb and Nina, with some fearing that Abi's son will end up dying in hospital.

Nina and Seb are both in hospital and fighting for their lives following the brutal attack (ITV)

"Please let Seb be okay #corrie @itvcorrie," one person tweeted, while another posted: "Uhhh is Seb gonna die? A missed internal bleed? #Corrie."

A third added: "Please don't kill Seb off, I'm begging you @itvcorrie#CoronationStreet #Corrie."

A fourth viewer posted: "YOU CAN’T END IT THERE PLEASE DON’T LET SEB DIE #Corrie," and a fifth wrote: "Poor Abi at the end. I hope Seb doesn't die, think he will though..."

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.