Coronation Street boss Iain MacLeod has teased that it could be the end of the road for one much-loved Walford resident.
The executive producer of the ITV soap has spoken out about what the future holds for the Winter-Brown family, and it could lead to a devastating outcome for Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin).
Dev and Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) have been enjoying an on/off romance, but it's now been revealed that Bernie could end up doing something that will have huge ramifications for some of the show's most beloved characters.
Next week on the ITV soap, the Brown-Winter household is in a much better place following Joseph Brown's (William Flanagan) return after he ran away from home.
Feeling positive and grateful, Bernie decides to call in at the shop to see Dev, who helped in the search for her step-grandson.
Hoping to also fill the cupboards as finances are a little tight at home, Bernie asks her love interest to give her first refusal on any stock he plans to throw away.
Dev then suggests they go on a date soon as Bernie pulls him in for a kiss, and it seems that their romance is well and truly back on.
Later that day, Dev is also in high spirits and decides to pay a visit to the Brown-Winter household with some goods for them.
Both Chesney Brown (Sam Aston) and Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) are over the moon to see so much food on their table, but Chesney is a little more hesitant to accept it when he realises it's from his boss and neighbour.
Dev leaves their house feeling a little deflated and is a bit confused as to how there were suddenly so much groceries there.
After doing a bit of digging, Dev could discover it was actually Bernie who got her daughter's cupboards stocked despite looking for freebies in the corner shop.
It seems Bernie could have got her hands on a considerable amount of money after Chesney and Gemma said there was a £30,000 reward on offer when they put out a television appeal to bring Joseph home.
Wrapped up in their son coming home, perhaps they completely forgot to give Bernie's friend his money for getting the schoolboy home safe.
Bernie told Gemma that she would sort out the reward money - but did she decide to just keep the funds for herself? And will Dev work it all out?
According to Express.co.uk, Corrie boss Iain said of the Winter-Brown family: "I love that family a lot. During the pandemic, we haven't been able to see as much of the children as we would have liked – and we probably still can't.
"But it felt like we were now able to examine what it's like in that house a bit more – especially if you're Joseph, a sensitive young lad who's already got a certain amount of tragedy in his backstory with the death of his mum.
"Joseph is essentially in the box room while his parents' attention is lavished entirely on these four little screaming children over there."
Iain continued: "Also, having five mouths to feed is incredibly difficult for a family that doesn't bring home an awful lot of money.
"Bernie for one, in the aftermath of Joseph's disappearance, makes a decision that is for all the right reasons at the time but will ultimately cause the whole family to be brought into disrepute.
"Bernie's decision jeopardises burgeoning friendships and it makes the whole of the street really look sideways at the wider Winter-Brown family.
"The choice she makes is very relatable but it transpires to be a terrible decision," the executive producer added.
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ITV and ITV Hub.
