Coronation Street spoilers follow from Wednesday night's episodes (December 1).
Coronation Street has finally revealed the truth about Curtis Delamere, confirming that he doesn't have a life-threatening heart condition after all.
Earlier this year, Curtis told his partner Emma Brooker (Alexandra Mardell) that he's terminally ill. Since then, we've seen Curtis head off for a number of hospital appointments, but viewers now know exactly what he's being told behind closed doors.
When Curtis chatted to a doctor in the latest episodes, it was reiterated to him that he has a clean bill of health. However, when Curtis refused to believe it, the doctor suggested that he may have a Factitious Disorder – a mental illness whereby people deceive others by pretending to be ill.
Sam Retford, who plays Curtis, recently chatted to Digital Spy and other media about the storyline.
Did you always know this twist was coming up for Curtis?
"Yes, I knew from day one. That's what attracted me to the role so much because certainly in British television it's not really something that has been spoken about, certainly not at this length.
"I just thought: 'When else am I going to get the opportunity to play the long game with a story like this?' It was just an amazing experience to build the character and build the relationships for the last seven months or so, but always in the back of my mind I knew where it was going. That was huge. It was an amazing opportunity."
How hard has it been for you keep this storyline under wraps?
"It's been pretty tough, because it's something that's fascinated me so much and it's something that I've really tried to delve into. I didn't pretend it wasn't going to happen. For example, if you were to watch the episodes back, you would see all of his actions are influenced by this.
"So it's something that has always been in the very forefront of my mind but never something I was able to talk about. It's been pretty tough.
"A few people guessed it, which is good. We left some clues in there. We didn't want it to come out of the blue because it is something that influences people's everyday decisions and their day-to-day life. It's a really debilitating disorder."
Have you had friends and family trying to get the secret out of you?
"Yes, I've had people asking. But a lot of friends and family didn't want me to tell them. They wanted to go in for the ride, which is really cool, so they get to enjoy the story. But yeah, I've had quite a few people trying to get it out of me."
Knowing that a lot of Curtis's character is based on lies, how has it affected the way you have approached playing him?
"It's really tough, because there's two ways you can look at it. When I first started the job, I looked at it in quite a clinical and pragmatic point of view – what someone with this condition would typically act like or how their behaviour would be influenced by the disorder.
"From there on, when you build a relationship with the character and you start to fall in love with him a little bit, you have to then develop a huge amount of empathy for things that on face value seem black or white, good or bad. You'd look at it on paper and think: 'That's a bad thing to do'.
"It made me really quite empathic to Curtis. I tried to delve into that and make sure he was honoured. All of those decisions he was making came from a place of hurt and a place of self-loathing, in a way. It really made you fall in love with him."
Is it important to show that Curtis isn't a villain and he has an illness?
"Yes, absolutely. I would read some of the scripts and it wouldn't even be an emotional piece of text, it would literally just be a small white lie that Curtis would tell to Emma maybe, and it would make me emotional reading it because he wouldn't need to lie.
"There would be no necessity for it, but in his head he believed he needed that to be loved by other people. I felt great empathy towards him. He has been an amazing character to live with for a while."
What do you think has made Curtis the way he is?
"It comes from a place of neglect and forming inauthentic relationships with people in his childhood and this preconceived notion of wanting to feel loved – built on really unstable foundations. It comes from a place of regret and a need to manipulate situations. He's just lonely.
"There was quite a lot that happened to him when he was younger and he saw a light to tap into people's empathy towards him. He's pretty lost."
Do you think viewers will have sympathy for Curtis?
"Yeah, I really hope so. There are two sides to this. One is the story side where we want people to get lost in the drama of it. But there is also the other side of it where hopefully we can teach people to have a bit of empathy, look deeper into it and realise that it's not necessarily a choice.
"Curtis is not sitting there in the morning thinking: 'What lies am I going to tell today?' It's not malicious. It exists in this unconscious need for care and the need for maternal lovingness that was absent when he was a child.
"I really hope people see through the lines and see the human traits in Curtis."
Are Curtis's feelings for Emma genuine?
"Yes, but it's really difficult. I think he got far too deep. She taught him so much about himself, but just a bit too late.
"Curtis would do this before with other people but he would leave. He would get what he wanted, not consciously, but once he felt that fulfilment, he would feel the risk was too high to stay. He would make up an excuse and run away so he didn't have to face any more.
"With Emma, it was different. I think in Emma, he sees the only chance to be his authentic self and I think she taught him who that was in him. So yes, it's definitely an authentic adoration."
If you've been affected by the issues raised in this story, organisations who can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7.30pm on ITV.
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