Fans are both furious and terrified for Coronation Street icon Carla Connor, amid a disturbing new development in Becky Swain’s storyline.

Viewers know Becky has desperately tried to tear apart Carla’s relationship with her fiancée Lisa Swain, Becky’s ex-wife, for months. When Becky returned from the dead recently after four years, it rocked Lisa who had just moved on with Carla.

Becky’s manipulation worked, and soon Carla felt ousted from her own home, ending things with a devastated Lisa. But this week with the help of Kit Green, she’s been looking into Becky and DI Costello, trying to prove if Becky attacked him and what else she may be hiding.

As she continued to dig on Friday things took a sad turn, as Carla vowed to Lisa she’d made a mistake in leaving and ending things. Lisa claimed Carla did not trust her, and was not giving her the love she needed.

As Carla pleaded with her, asking her to tell her what it was she needed from her, Lisa decided enough was enough, and they had to admit it wasn’t going to work. Carla was cut up over this, having believed she and Lisa could fix things.

So Becky had finally done it and torn Swarla apart, and with that Carla was even more desperate to expose her. Initially she told Kit that she was heading off on a holiday with no drama and nothing to think about, clearly trying to heal her heartbreak.

But when Kit reminded her of what they had found out, it got Carla thinking. Kit said how close they were to solving the case, adding it was the only way Carla could get Lisa back.

Carla looked very determined at this, and we soon saw her visiting Costello once more. Quizzing him about some rather confusing words he’d said previously, she turned back into detective mode, giving Kit a run for his money.

But it all took a turn later in the episode when Carla, apparently, sent Lisa an upsetting message. Lisa had finally seen sense and decided she needed to speak with Carla, and no doubt fix things.

Becky was there though, once again trying to stop this as she told Lisa it was best she left things alone. Suddenly Lisa was stopped in her tracks by a text message, having failed to get through to Carla when she called her phone.

The message was from Carla, and it stated she wanted Lisa to stop trying to contact her, hinting it was over for good for them. Lisa clearly regretted her earlier chat with Carla, as she became emotional over the message, if not stunned.

Of course Becky was there to comfort Lisa in her time of need, reassuring her. But it was the smirk she gave over Lisa’s shoulder that told fans everything they needed to know, and that Becky was up to something.

Fans are now convinced, with Carla set to be AWOL in the coming weeks, that Becky has orchestrated Carla’s vanishing act, and may have done something terrible. Taking to X, one fan predicted: “That evil smirk by Lady Lazarus just confirmed that Carla is tied up somewhere and Becky now has Carla’s phone!!!”

Another fan said: “That’s how I know Carla didn’t send That text, she would never put ‘please stop calling me’ so bluntly like that over text to Lisa, it is just not something she would do. Also very suspect, considering their last conversation.”

A third fan posted: “What the hell has that rat done… Ds Swain wake up and get rid of it.” A further tweet said: “All I can think about is what Becky has done to ar Carla.”