Coronation Street's resident evil builder, Pat Phelan, may have met his match if newcomer Nicola turns out to be his secret daughter.
Nicola Rubinstein (Nicola Thorp) arrived in Weatherfield under the guise of tearaway Seb's (Harry Visinoni) probation officer – however it seems there is much more to her than meets the eye.
Speaking about Phelan's first encounter with Nicola, actor Connor McIntyre, who plays the murdering builder said: "Imagine turning around and seeing the mirror image of somebody you fell in love with thirty years ago…
"Pat’s spider senses are tingling and he is doing his Pat Phelan thing - noseying around for information."
A determined Phelan is willing to do anything to find out if Nicola is in fact his daughter. But little does he know Nicola is on to him too, and it appears she has a few tricks up her sleeve.
Phelan agrees to take Seb on as an apprentice and accompanies him and Nicola to an ex-offender talk in Liverpool. It's not the talk he is there for though - he spends his whole time pressing Nicola for information on her parents, which leaves her feeling very uncomfortable.
McIntyre revealed that this trip to Liverpool is the first time viewers will get to hear about Phelan's life before he came to Weatherfield.
"This is Pat going down memory lane and for the first time we get some insight into what his back story is and the environment he grew up in.
"Nicola is the first person he has told about his past - he has a bond with her. We see a different side to Pat."
Back on the Street things take an unfortunate turn for Phelan when Nicola overhears him on the phone looking for information about her and demands an explanation.
A flustered Phelan tries to explain that he is only looking for information because he thinks he knows her parents.
Hearing this Nicola arranges a meeting between Phelan and her dad in a park…but when he gets there Phelan soon realises that he is sitting on a tribute bench dedicated to Nicola’s dead parents.
If Nicola turns out to be Phelan's daughter – and odds on she does – McIntyre reckons there is a lot of scope there for them to develop a relationship.
"Yes, definitely. She is very shrewd so any shenanigans or sideways behaviour would not be tolerated.
"There are moments when you see that this is Pat Phelan’s daughter, it's in the genetic code there are elements, a bit of fire in there. He's met his match but he takes some pride in it - 'that’s my girl'."
