Coronation Street fans have switched allegiance from Craig to Gary, much to their own surprise.
The police officer has rubbed viewers up the wrong way after interfering in an attempted rape case.
And in a turn of events, Corrie's resident villain, Gary, became the unexpected hero.
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Gary attempted to smuggle away and hide the weapon little sister Faye had used to attack Adam Barlow in a case of mistaken identity.
She struck Adam with a trophy after thinking he was sleazy businessman Ray Crosby who had tried to rape her at Christmas, reports the M.E.N.
When she confessed everything to Gary and his wife Maria he went over to her house and smuggled out the award.
But viewers were furious when an off-duty Craig thwarted his plan by demanding to see what was in his bag and arrested him on suspicion of theft when he saw the hospitality award that Faye had taken from the crime scene at the bistro and hidden under her bed.
One fan said on social media: "Disliking Craig more each episode."
Another tweeted: "Craig, I used to love you but you’re doing my head in now!"
A third said: "Craig... who would have thought nice kind Craig would have turned into such a nasty piece of work."
Things went from bad to worse for Gary, who murdered his fearsome loan shark boss Rick Neelan in 2019, when he was questioned and ended up being arrested for the attack on Adam.
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And Adam is happy for his arch-nemesis Gary to take the blame.
A tearful Faye told Gary and Maria: "I grabbed the nearest thing I could find and whacked him over the head with it."
Viewers now suspect bistro owner Ray could be killer Gary's next target after hearing that he had lured his 18-year-old sister to his hotel room for a wine tasting session and manipulated her into sleeping with him.
She told Gary and Maria she couldn't face going to the police about the attempted rape in his office because she had already slept with him.
