Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street's Daisy Midgeley finds herself in trouble with the police later this month as her sinister stalker storyline continues.
Daisy is left in despair as she spots creepy Justin Rutherford continuing to hang around Weatherfield, which leads to another altercation between them.
When Justin places his hand on Daisy's arm, she sees red and punches him. Even though the police have been far from helpful with Daisy recently, they soon swoop in to question her when Justin accuses her of assault.
Charlotte Jordan, who plays Daisy, recently chatted to Digital Spy and other media about what's to come.
What was the turning point when Daisy realised that Justin's behaviour was becoming more sinister?
"The wedding fair episode was when Daisy clocked that this guy isn't going to go away. If it's all on your phone, there's a barrier. You think if you ignore a problem, it will go away.
"But Justin has no intention of going away and this is when Daisy realised that this is going to be a long-term problem for her. She's out of her depth, really – she doesn't know how to deal with it.
"It was the wedding fair episode when Justin started saying: 'I'm your fiancé and we're going to get married'. That's when it clicked that this guy is totally delusional – this is not a fan or someone who fancies her from online.
"I've done some research and we now know that Justin is what's known as an 'intimacy seeking stalker'. He fully believes that they're in a relationship and he fully believes that they're in love.
"Daisy is really taken aback by it, because she doesn't know how he could possibly think that – but he's not a reasonable person and that's when she starts to get extremely scared."
How does Justin's behaviour affect Daisy's wellbeing?
"Daisy is a feisty, confident character. She's got a gob on her, so she's not afraid to tell people to do one if she feels she needs to. But what you'll see is this guy totally take Daisy's power from her. She feels totally powerless and you'll slowly see Justin eradicate and decimate all the things that make her Daisy, which is really sad.
"Luckily Daisy has got people around her that love her and are going to support her through it, but no-one can really understand what she's going through. Justin is going to, slowly but surely, destroy everything that makes Daisy 'her'."
How does this start affecting Daisy's relationship with Daniel?
"Daisy can't say what she wants to say to Justin because it's not getting through, so she will start taking it out on Daniel because that's the only thing that she can do.
"As much as Daniel is supporting Daisy and trying to do what he can to help her through it, tensions get really high. Daisy starts to snap and she starts to get really fragile. Unfortunately, Daniel is the one who has to learn how to deal with that and navigate her through it."
Daniel has hinted to Daisy that she's partly to blame for sharing so much on social media, while Christina has claimed that she should be flattered by the attention. How much do thoughtless comments like this hurt Daisy?
"It's just the worst! Victim blaming mentality is so dangerous and so damaging. You've got this whole epidemic at the minute with violent crimes against women, and for some reason it's the woman's responsibility to stop it. The onus is always on the woman to change her behaviour and change the things that she's doing and that's just so, so wrong.
"The responsibility should not be on a woman not to post a picture of herself where she feels cute. It should be in educating men on what a healthy relationship is and what consent is. It's got to be talking about it with men as opposed to telling women: 'No, no, change everything about yourself so you don't put yourself in a dangerous position'. Men should just do better.
"That's not me tarring men with one brush. It is a problem because it's happening more and more. Even when you go back to Sarah Everard and what happened to her, a lot of the initial conversations were: 'You know, she was walking on a road late at night'. No, it's not the victim's fault."
How much does Daisy feel her safety is in danger?
"She's always on edge. Justin has even got a job to be on her street so he can keep an even closer eye on her. Daisy is just looking over her shoulder constantly and she never knows where he's going to appear.
"Because Justin is totally delusional and believes they're in this loving relationship and Daniel is somehow an obstacle for them, she doesn't know how far that delusion is going to go. Daisy doesn't know how dangerous that will make him in the long run. She doesn't know what's going to tip him over the edge, so it's just a really scary situation for her to be in."
We'll see the situation start to escalate later this month, with the punch storyline. Can you tell us more?
"Characters like Daniel, Christina and Jenny have suggested that Daisy should come off social media. She has been fighting it because she knows that's not fair – it's not how it should go. Daisy has been really trying to keep hold of her identity and the things that she wants.
"Later this month, Daisy finally relents and agrees: 'Maybe I will step back a bit'. Daniel takes over her social media for her so she doesn't have to see Justin's constant messages.
"Daniel has always turned his nose up at social media, so he does something which isn't quite right and it sets Daisy off and makes her upset.
"Daisy's nerves are shredded already because of Justin, so when Daniel upsets her social media, this just sends her into a chaotic spin and she feels like no-one is understanding her. The police aren't helping her either.
"She storms off to get some air and she sees Justin with this bouquet of flowers, which is very triggering to her. That's how this whole thing began, with a bunch of flowers.
"Daisy sees red and she thinks: 'Well, I'll take this into my own hands and actually tell this guy to sod off for good'. It escalates very quickly because she's already in a very heightened state – and when he touches her arm, she punches him."
What's going through Daisy's mind at this point?
"Daisy is not a violent person, so she has never been in that sort of altercation. Daisy is cutting with her words, she's not cutting physically. It's not her just lashing out – it's self-defence. Me and Andrew [Still, who plays Justin] are very particular on this.
"This is the first time that Justin has touched Daisy and that's really crossing yet another line for her. Even though she feels powerless and she's got no control over this situation, she can control if he touches her in person.
"Daisy sees red and she lunges for him because that's the only thing she feels that she's got any shred of control over."
What were those scenes like to film?
"Although it's very scary and dark, and a current topic that we're exploring storyline-wise, I really enjoyed learning how to punch someone! It's the first time I've been taught a physical stunt like that and we had a stunt coordinator, who is so good. She knows that I'm quite a clumsy person and not coordinated, so she taught me in a way that was great for me.
"I really enjoyed it. Hopefully it looks legit, as I haven't seen it yet. I gave it a good crack and I enjoyed it and I hope for more stunts in the future."
Daisy ends up being taken down to the police station because Justin accuses her of assault. How does that make her feel?
"This is the main thing that makes Daisy feel even more isolated and even more alone, because she has been going to the police asking for help and they've been chucking everything back on her, going 'he's not actually committed a crime so if you just keep a note and come back to us', which is ridiculous.
"Even though Daisy has been to them two or three times by now, this is the first time Justin has called about her and all of a sudden they jump into action even though they know the history and they know what's been going on. She feels totally isolated and helpless."
Will this change Daisy's character?
"I think it was really important to do this storyline. It was very clever to do it with a character like Daisy. She's a very divisive character, you love her or you hate her, there's not really an in-between.
"All the things that make her Daisy – she's extra, she's flamboyant, she's camp, she is big – she just starts to crumble and get smaller and smaller. I don't think she'll ever be the same again."
What were your first thoughts when you first heard about this storyline?
"I thought it was brilliant – lucky me that they've given me my own storyline, because there's a lot of people here and not everyone gets one. So that was wonderful and I thought it was a really important one to tell.
"It's a really current topic at the minute so anything that can be shown to change people's feelings on victim blaming and things like that, anything that can shine a light on it, sign me up."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
We would encourage anyone who identifies with the topics raised in this article to reach out. Call 999 if you or anyone you know is in immediate danger, or report any concerning situations using UK government resources or the Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service. The National Stalking Helpline is open 9.30am-4pm on weekdays (and until 8pm on Wednesdays) on 0808 802 0300.
Coronation Street has been working on Daisy's storyline with support from The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which works to reduce the risk of violence and aggression through campaigning, education and support.
