Coronation Street’s domestic abuse storyline has hit viewers hard since the beginning - even more so now evil Geoff has cranked up his reign of terror.
Fans of the ITV soap have been watching in horror as scenes between Geoff Metcalfe, played by Ian Bartholomew, and his wife Yasmeen (Shelley King) continue to escalate.
Most recently the abuser has left Yasmeen reeling after being told that she had tested positive for Chlamydia.
She caught the sexually transmitted infection from her cheating husband who has been hiring escorts.
Other moments include when Geoff locked a claustrophobic Yasmeen in his magic box, where no one could hear her scream, to ‘punish’ her for when his trick didn’t go to plan.
Some Corrie viewers are so upset by the scenes they have switched off - and it appears that Ian’s own children are among those who refuse to watch it.
Ian appeared on Good Morning Britain with Lorraine earlier today to explain the affect his character has had on his family.
He told the Scottish presenter: “They didn’t want to watch, they saw me lock Yasmeen into the magic box and they said, ‘no, I can’t watch Dad doing that’.
"So they haven’t watched since then and I can’t blame them. It must be quite difficult for them to watch their dad being rather unpleasant all the time.”
Ian has two children, aged 15 and 13, with his theatre director wife, Loveday Ingram.
He continued: “It’s been difficult because he is so not the sort of person I would want to be or would want to be around. The fact I have been playing it has been helped by Shelley King, who plays Yasmeen.
“We both get on extremely well and we trust each other. That has made it a lot easier. But no, the children don’t watch it.”
GMB airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
