Coronation Street actress Tracie Bennett has revealed that her character's "dark storyline" is what lured her back to the soap after 20 years away.
Tracie has reprised her role as Sharon Bentley, the foster daughter of soap stalwart Rita Tanner, and last night soap fans saw for the first time the big secret she is hiding - that she is the aunt of dastardly drug lord Harvey.
The return of Sharon has been 18 months in the pipeline with Corrie bosses, and Tracie reveals there are plenty of twists and turns ahead.
Asked why she returned, Tracie said: "Because the storyline I was told was dark. She was complex, you're interested in the flaws of somebody.
"If you just play nice all the time yeah that's fine I've done that but the flaws of a human being, especially under pressure, especially when it's family related and there's guilt and duty at the back of that, those things were whirring in my head.
"I knew they'd want a big storyline, why bring me back and waste it?"
Tracie has teased there is much ahead for soap fans to learn about where Sharon has been all these years, and what life experiences she has had.
We know that she had brothers called Wayne, Darren and Gary and when she got cancer it was Wayne who looked after her well and got her through it - and when he died, she feels obliged to look out for her nephew Harvey, played by Will Mellor.
Tracie explains of Sharon: "She feels that she owes something to Wayne. Harvey is using me because his dad Wayne did that favour for me.
"I've been left Wayne's whole business so I've got a bit of money. I don't know what that business is yet.
"Harvey emotionally blackmails me and I've had a lot to think about when I've been ill with cancer.
"Allegedly she's been thinking long and hard she's trying to change, she's trying to come back to make it right. But she's impulsive and gets things wrong. "
Tracie has hinted that "there's a limit" to how far Sharon will be pushed, and has teased death threats and facing a lengthy jail term if things go wrong.
She said: "There's kind of a limit coming. Then death threats. How far will Harvey go? The death threat on me is a problem, because then you see Sharon struggling with her morality.
"She's selfish but she might go down for 30 years for something she does. She's a bit torn. Then she's realising oh my god, that's really dangerous to me now. What am I going to do about Harvey?"
Tracie is enjoying being back on the show, and working with her foster mum Rita, played by Barbara Knox, who she first worked with back in 1982 on the soap.
She has not gone back to look at her old episodes, but says she's been capturing the "essence" of Sharon in her return.
Tracie said: "I didn't go back and watch but I tried to remember the essence of her. There were certain biggies. Don't forget I've been in it since 1982.
"The essence of Sharon was gobby and impulsive.
"She's under threat now so that means Sharon has got a veneer. In between weedling in and out for her nephew, she's got another veneer on top of that. Sometimes it's obvious she's manipulating and sometimes it's not."
And it sounds like there's lots of potential for the character to make a permanent return to life in Weatherfield.
Tracie says: "They're talking about wanting me to stay, it's up to them, so it's one of those. If I'm the most hated person in Britain then they might think actually you're going. I'm fine with that, it's acting. You just never know how it evolves."
