Coronation Street's Gary Windass left fighting for his life as soap FINALLY reveals what happened to 'missing' villager - and Maria is left 'spiralling'
The mystery began on the ITV soap when the builder (Mikey North) left Weatherfield, supposedly to stay with his mother for a while.
It was to escape neighbour Lou Michaelis (Farrel Hegarty) blackmailing him, after she leant in and kissed him recently, leaving him stunned.
She promised she would keep quiet about the kiss - including to Gary's partner Maria (Samia Longchambon) - as long as 'he did what she said', with her exact motive unclear.
Gary and Maria are in a rough spot in their relationship at the moment so when he left town for a mysterious reason, she was upset but quickly brushed it off.
But when he did not return for her son Liam's (Charlie Wrenshall) birthday, alarm bells started ringing in her head as she wondered where he had gone.
And Friday's episode will reveal he has not left town at all - but is actually in a coma at Weatherfield General, fighting for his life, with his family and friends totally unaware.
The revelation comes after Maria gets so worried for Gary's safety, she reports him as a missing person to police detective Kit Green (Jacob Roberts).
It is then she discovers from him there is an unidentified coma patient at the local hospital.
Kit assures Maria it is not Gary - but it is a sign even he has been taken in by Gary's mystery attacker.
It turns out the reason why no one knows Gary is at the hospital is the unknown criminal has tried to cover their tracks by giving the wrong name for him and claiming to be his next of kin.
As Gary remains in critical condition, the upcoming episodes will unravel how he ended up in hospital - and exactly who put him there.
Samia, who plays Maria, said: 'Maria and Gary are going through a bit of a rough patch at the minute and initially, she's upset that he's left but doesn't think too much into it.
'As soon as Gary misses Liam's birthday, she has a gut feeling that something isn't right and fears something awful might have happened to him.
'Maria's mind is spiralling but she doesn't stop for a second to think who actually attacked Gary.
'She's aware he has a lot of enemies from over the years who could have potentially wanted to take revenge on him.'
For instance, Gary had a violent fight with Lou's villainous husband Mick Michaelis (Joe Layton) just weeks ago.
It came after he discovered Mick had terrified his stepson Liam by leaving him locked in a cabinet for hours during an attempted practical joke in the builder's yard.
Gary was furious, confronting Mick, who soon found himself fired.
But he is not one to go down without a fight and soon warned Gary he would regret giving him the push out of the yard.
He soon confronted Gary on the street, where the pair had a bloody brawl in broad daylight, which nearly ended with Mick being bottled before Kit stepped in.
It comes after Gary made a shock return to the cobbles earlier this year, after a long time off our screens.
The character had not been seen on the soap since January, which left fans baffled at the time - his absence was not explained and no plot point was created to justify it.
Maria had also been missing from recent episodes.
But they both came back at the end of April, with Gary telling Maria he wants to sell his shop and buy the builder's yard in Weatherfield to start afresh - which she is not convinced is a good plan.
Fans were shocked and delighted to see Gary's return, taking to X to express their astonishment.
One said, 'I'd forgotten what he looked like', while someone else commented, 'A rare Gary sighting!'
Another added: 'Gary's here too?! Did they finally find the key to the cupboard they've been keeping all these characters in?'
Someone else said: 'Oh wow, Gary Windass is still alive? I forgot about him.'
Last month, avid fans of the soap had questioned where he was on X, with three posing the exact same question, 'Where is Gary Windass?', with another adding: 'Really need his storyline.'
Someone else commented: 'Hmm Corrie mysteries... Gary and Maria have been AWOL for months. Is there a Bermuda Triangle corner in Weatherfield?'
Fans were worried the lack of explanation meant the couple were going to be quietly written out of the show - but their fears will have been alleviated by their surprise return.
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