Coronation Street feud for Stephen and Carla escalates once again

Stephen's latest scam goes off the rails.

By Justin Harp

10 Feb 2023

ITV

Coronation Street spoilers follow.

Stephen Reid's feud with Carla Connor in Coronation Street has escalated ahead of a tense week.

Friday's episode saw Stephen's dodgy dealings go off the rails, inadvertently, due to Peter Barlow interfering in a top secret deal with a fabric buyer.

Michael and Sarah had been using the factory to moonlight in making their own patterns, in the hope of selling them to a buyer behind Carla's back.

The pair arranged a meeting with Rufus Donahue to give him a tour of the factory, leaving Stephen to keep Carla distracted so she wouldn't know what was going on.

Stephen was able to avert a near-miss when Rufus and Carla nearly came face-to-face, then later played it off to Rufus that Carla is actually his PA.

Stephen, Sarah and Michael were delighted when Rufus made them an offer to exclusively buy their patterns, only for Peter to disrupt the plot when Rufus got a ride in his cab.

When Rufus mentioned he was doing an exclusive deal with the factory, Peter was alarmed as he'd heard nothing from Carla about any such deal.

Once Carla realised what Michael and Sarah were up to, she set up her own meeting with Rufus to close a deal with Donahue's before he could ink anything with Sarah and Michael.

Stephen, Michael and Sarah interjected, with Adam Barlow as their legal representative, to block Carla's attempt to one-up them, yet Rufus just washed his hands of the whole situation and walked out.

carla barlow, beth tinker, stephen reid, coronation street

ITV

Furious, Carla announced she would confiscate Sarah and Michael's designs because she has the right to claim ownership on anything produced in the factory.

This all leads up to a full-scale feud between killer Stephen and Carla playing out on-screen next week, with Todd Boyce already teasing a potentially-deadly climax.

"He really wants to harm her business and her reputation and he has no qualms about what he's planning to do," the actor warned.

Stephen will go so far as to spike Carla's coffee with LSD in the hopes that it will force her out of running the factory.

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.