Dear Santa. I’ve been ever so good this year. All I want for Christmas is for Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) to have a perfect, drama-free fairytale wedding. Is that too much to ask?!
Yes. Apparently, yes it is. After watching her battle with a heartbreaking young-onset dementia diagnosis, Coronation Street fans might be screaming at their TVs for this Queen of the cobbles to marry the love of her life Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan) and finally get her happily ever after.
‘I think she’s never found true love until now,’ actress Sue shares. ‘And I think because Ronnie said to her, “I’m not going anywhere, you might be poorly, you might have dementia, but I’m sticking by your side,” she just sees that as, “This must be true love. This is true love”.’
But there are two major obstacles standing in their way. Those obstacles go by Kevin (Michael Le Vell) and Carl (Jonathan Howard), her disgruntled brothers.
Neither of them have exactly seen eye to eye since Carl did the dirty with Kevin’s wife Abi (Sally Carman-Duttine). Between battling with her condition and navigating family drama, Debbie’s walking down the aisle amid a minefield of secrets just waiting to explode.
‘Oh, she wants a big extravaganza of a wedding.’ Sue reveals ‘She wants everything: flowers, flamingos, big hair, peacocks, a big dress—the works. I think she wants the works. And I think because she feels that this might be the last massive party that she has, she wants to do it in style. No expense spared.’
Unfortunately, the one thing Debbie can’t buy is a better brother. Thanks to Carl’s affair with Abi, Kevin refuses to be in the same room as the no-good cheating toe-rag. Despite reservations about them being a couple, Debbie was touched when Carl and Abi managed to secure her a wedding venue at the last minute, so she gave them an invitation as a peace offering – much to Kev’s chagrin. Now he’s refusing to attend.
All Debbie wants is her brothers by her side on her special day. Sue Devaney explains how much this means to Debbie. ‘She’s absolutely in crisis about it, because she wants everybody to be getting along. She wants her family there, and them all to be having fun and joining in. And of course, Kevin’s falling out with Abi, he’s falling out with his brother, so that’s stressful in itself. I mean, it’s stressful organising a wedding, but on top of that she’s doing it with dementia.’
But Debbie needn’t worry, because her girl squad comes to the rescue when Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor) shows her into No.4 to reveal Glenda Shuttleworth (Jodie Prenger), Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) and Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins) ready for a pre-wedding pamper party. Debbie’s touched. When she confides in her friends how she wishes Kevin would bury the hatchet with Carl just for one day, Sally does what Sally does best – meddle in the affairs of others without asking first. But this time, it might just pay off!
Sally calls at the garage to give Kevin a piece of her mind…and sure enough, Kevin finds Carl and tells him he needs a word. Will they bury the hatchet for their sister’s sake?
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Even if they do, having Carl at the wedding may not be the best of ideas. The man is a walking ball of secrets and bad decisions.
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Greatest hits include causing the hit and run that put Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) in a wheelchair, cheating on Abi with James Bailey (Jason Callender) just after running off with her and breaking Kev’s heart, and taking advantage of Debbie’s dementia just to pocket her cash. Debbie remains oblivious…for now.
Sue explains why her character may have a bit of a blind spot where her bro is concerned. ‘I think she’s letting him get away with little bits of things. I think Debbie’s… she’s not that far down the line that she doesn’t see things. Love is blind, isn’t it?’
For now, perhaps. But the truth has to come out sooner or later. Since both Debbie and Carl are confirmed to be involved in the devastating car crash stunt featured in epic crossover episode Corriedale, we’re guessing sooner.
Worlds literally collide when the villagers of Emmerdale meet the residents of Coronation Street on the roads in the dead of night. Several vehicles are involved in the disaster, including a minibus full of Debbie’s wedding guests! With her big day taking centre stage in this shocking stunt, Sue opens up about her feelings going into the special episode:
‘I was thrilled. I was so thrilled. I’ll tell you why: because when we’re filming Corrie, we come to work, we come to the studio every day. Corriedale was on location. It was also being with Emmerdale. It was being with a new crew, a director who works between the two.
‘But it was exciting because we were doing night shoots, working with different cameras. We were on location and we were all staying in a hotel. So it was like, ‘Oh, I’m on my holidays!’ It was really good fun and it was exciting because it’s something fun to do. And also with all the stunts. It felt like doing a little movie or something.’
But what about the aftermath? What does 2026 hold for Debbie Webster? Any juicy secrets or drama on the horizon? Sue plays her cards close to her chest, but she’s got one or two ideas:
‘Well, I think there’s going to be… it’s not going to be plain sailing. She’s going to be married, which she is very excited about. But I think there’s going to be some massive reveals, things that we didn’t know about Debbie, and also quite a bit of reflection.’
Things we don’t know about Debbie? Sounds like someone might be on the naughty list…
