As we reported recently, when Coronation Street resident Deirdre Barlow overhears a row between Tyrone Dobbs and his pregnant fiancé Kirsty Soames, she’s then horrified to see that Kirsty has fallen and has cuts on her face…

So pretty much inevitably, Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride) begins to wonder if Tyrone (Alan Halsall) is an abusive husband, and as Natalie Gumede – who of course plays Kirsty – has revealed to Soaplife, her character won’t do anything to disabuse Deirdre of her incorrect assumption.

In fact, Natalie went on to say that Kirsty will even go so far as to leave Tyrone – after he suggests she seek counselling for her violent behaviour – and intimate that she’s leaving him because he’s violent towards her.

Describing Kirsty as “verging on evil,” Natalie said, “She knows she has to do something because she wants to save her relationship with Tyrone…

“But she has reached the point where, while she knows her violence is wrong, she is finding ways to justify it.

“So the idea of actually talking to somebody about it is terrifying her because that means she has to admit she is the problem.”

However, Kirsty does go to the medical centre to speak to the doctor about her temper, but she bottles out at the last minute and flees in tears.

Of that, Natalie said, “She gets as far as the surgery and checks in with Deirdre [who works there on reception] but she loses her nerve.

“She tells Tyrone she saw the doctor, but he finds out she’s lying when Deirdre asks Tyrone if Kirsty is OK because she didn’t keep her appointment.

“Tyrone confronts Kirsty and they have a very tense argument. The argument takes place in the back yard, but when Tyrone decides he’s not getting any sense out of Kirsty, he heads back into the house to leave for work.

“Kirsty throws herself at him, but she loses her balance and ends up smacking her head on a concrete plant pot.”

And that happens just as Deirdre’s passing by…

Natalie continued, “The back gate’s open and [Deirdre] sees Kirsty on the floor.

“Kirsty realises she can make this look like Tyrone’s the violent one and stop the truth coming out. If that means that Tyrone is the bad guy then so be it.

”Kirsty tells Tyrone she wouldn’t have to do these things if he didn’t make her.”

Of Kirsty deciding to leave Tyrone, Natalie said, “I think that when Kirsty does have moments of clarity, she realises she’s making Tyrone very unhappy.

“She can see the manipulation and that she is destroying the person that she loves and she doesn’t like that about herself.

“She knows she needs to get away for a while.”

And finally, when asked, “So is Kirsty evil or damaged?” Natalie replied, “Damaged. She’s verging on evil now, but it’s because she is damaged.”

Don’t miss all that drama next week.