Hope Stape, the troubled child of Corrie, has a bright future ahead of her after executives announced the conclusion of her harrowing storylines and hinted at a pre-teen romance with Sam Blakeman.
Iain MacLeod, the head of Coronation Street, has revealed that plans for more sinister storylines involving the “demon child” Hope Stape have been dropped due to concerns that the young actor who plays her might “burn out.” Isabella Flanagan, 12, who won the best young performer award at the Inside Soap Awards in October of last year, plays the role. She has recently been the focus of some terrifying plots, but it appears that she is about to get some relief because MacLeod says he intends to take the ITV soap character in a different direction.
Speaking on ITV’s Loose Women, MacLeod revealed: “She’s certainly not going to continue down such a troubled path.
“We thought actually we’ve done some very dark and twisted things with that character, and okay, that will still be part of her, but for the next 12 months we’re going to do normal pre-teen stuff.”
He said: “We’re going to be building a friendship with her and Sam that will verge on a very innocent pre-teen romance a little bit and they try to navigate those waters.
“It will always have a Hope twist on it because she’s maybe wired a bit differently than most kids her age… but we’ll see a more down-to-earth grounded side of her.”
He gave the following justification for his choice: “I think there’s a risk with any character that’s that brilliant — and Isabella is such a good actress, too — that you burn them out by having them do too much big crazy stuff in a run,” he said.
Over the past few years, Hope has experienced some significant storylines.
She set Underworld on fire in 2019, only to become trapped in it before Ali Neeson (played by James Burrows) bravely saved her.
She once more turned to fire in 2021 when she attempted to burn down Alina Pop’s apartment while she slept in an effort to murder Tyrone’s pregnant ex-girlfriend (Ruxandra Porojnicu).
She accused her of being responsible for the divorce of Alina’s parents, Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) and Tyrone (Alan Halsall), who survived but had a miscarriage.
In a different sinister plot, she kept her cousin Joseph—played by Isabella’s real-life brother William—hidden in the attic for days while everyone desperately looked for him under the mistaken impression that he had gone missing.
She tried to capitalize on her connection to serial killer John Stape (Graeme Hawley) earlier this year by offering autographed copies of a book about his time in school.
Later, when she overheard her classmates making fun of her, she took out a hammer and “re-enacted” one of his horrifying murders.
Even though things for Hope on the Street may be beginning to calm down, MacLeod has high hopes for her, tipping her and Sam co-star Jude Riordan for Hollywood stardom in the future, though he hopes they both stay close to the cobbles for a while.
“If we’re lucky, God willing, we’ll have them for years and years,” he said.
Riordan has won awards as well; in 2021, he took home the National Television Award for Most Popular Newcomer.
When he went on stage to accept the award, he was infamously too short to reach the microphone, so show host Joel Dommett had to lift him up.
- EastEnders family torn apart as Karen Taylor fights for custody of Albie
- Coronation Street fans point out ‘flaw’ in Paul Foreman illness story
- Emmerdale exit as fans plead with soap to get rid of ‘irritating’ character
- Emmerdale’s Kim Tate loses Home Farm as fans ‘work out’ who Caleb is working for
- Coronation Street fans ‘work out’ sinister truth behind death of Evelyn’s dog
