Cait Fitton has revealed she was just as surprised about her Coronation Street return as viewers will be to see her back.
The actress, who plays Lauren, was last seen on the Cobbles as part of the extremism storyline, which saw Max being radicalised by a far right group who had used him to create their propaganda videos. They befriended him before their real intentions were revealed and in a huge twist, they were caught by police thanks to Max coming clean about his involvement.
Lauren's dad was part of the group, but whilst he is still in jail, she is now back and clearly has something to ask of Max.
Speaking to The Mirror and other press about her return, she said: "Honestly, it feels like I’ve never left which is such a lovely feeling. I feel like I learned so much the first time about myself and I got to work with some amazing people.
"I got to be a part of such a big storyline. To get told I was coming back, it was so unexpected. She was meant to be a temporary character part of the storyline so when I got told she was coming back, I was so excited. I can now develop the character and we can see her in a different way. It wasn’t expected at all. I was so excited to find out the news."
She admits Lauren is a very "naïve" person and is easily misled, but needs Max's support to move forward.
"I think Lauren is very naïve; she’s a very easily misled character but there’s definitely more to her than meets the eye. The audience was very wary about her at the start because what was going on, and all the red flags that were showing. I do think when she left, there was a big shift. I was really overwhelmed with the support I came out with," she said.
"Lauren is very much of an outcast, she shares this edited version of herself and her life and I think that’s what teenagers nowadays can relate to. I think deep down she really craves attention and affection and it’s really sad because she’s never had that."
Vowing her character has changed, Lauren concluded: "I think she’s definitely changed. She’s been through so many things. As human beings ourselves, we go through these changes. She wants to be accepted now and she wants to be taken away from what she was known for, but she wants to be herself. She can’t do that on her own so that’s why I think the acceptance for Lauren is so important."
