A close friendship appears to be forming between Alina Pop and Emma Brooker on Coronation Street in the most unlikely of circumstances.
The two girls could be at loggerheads after they both dated Seb Franklin, but they now appear to be getting along well while he's the one being sidelined.
Emma ended her romance with Seb after she clocked he still had feelings for his ex Alina.
Seb is now pursuing Alina again while she seems wary, but there's talk this could be a sign she's secretly developed feelings for Emma.
"Alina has a fling with Emma!" predicted one viewer on Twitter.
Asked if Corrie looks set to spring a surprise romance on us, soap watchers on the Manchester Evening News Corrie fan Facebook page pushed the thumbs-up.
"Yeeeesssss!!!" cheered one.
Another viewer was more sceptical, even though they like the idea.
"As cute as they would be together, Emma's a bit too much of a 'Some Day My Prince Will Come' type for it to be in character," they said.
Back in February, actress Ruxandra Porojnicu warned Alina's return to Weatherfield was going to be complicated.
"Seb is too protective, Emma is too kind and Alina is too confused," she said on Twitter.
"Yaaaayks."
Alina was at the centre of the drama last year as nail technician Alina in a hard-hitting slavery storyline.
Alina first appeared on the soap in April 2019 as the victim of a slavery ring which made her work at a nail bar against her will.
She dated Seb, who was carrying out a building job at the salon where she worked, but after the truth about her enslavement came to light the character returned to Romania in August.
She came back to Weatherfield earlier this year to find her ex loved-up with bubbly new girlfriend Emma, played by Alexandra Mardell.
Asked by the Manchester Evening News if there could be a love triangle ahead Ruxandra said previously: "I can't say, but they all do care about each other."
