Suzanne Collins, a star of much-loved soap Brookside, has been cast in Coronation Street.
The actress played the role of Nikki Shadwick in the Channel 4 show from 1998, right through to the final ever episode in 2003.
Nikki’s first storyline in the show saw her raped at a party in 1998. In the aftermath, Nikki grew convinced Luke Musgrove was responsible, who eventually handed himself into the police following a failed attempt at leaving the country.
In the concluding part of the court case, however, Luke was found not guilty – but he was sent to prison for skipping bail.
In 1999, Nikki was forced to deal with more trauma when her brother and father died in an explosion.
Since the show’s axing, Suzanne has gone on to appear in other soaps such as The Bill and Hollyoaks, where she played a character called Anna in 2022.
Now, the star is heading to the Weatherfield cobbles, to feature in Abi Webster’s (Sally Carman) ongoing storyline.
According to The Sun, Suzanne will play an assistant who works at the nursery Abi’s son Alfie attends, though Metro understands that she will appear in only one episode.
Abi Webster has been struggling with her mental health ever since witnessing Mason Radcliffe’s (Luca Toolan) stabbing at the start of the year.
Reminded of how her son Seb died, Abi has claimed to friends and family that she’s coping, but has hallucinated her beloved boy multiple times.
Things got worse for Abi when husband Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) revealed that he had found a lump, and now needs to undergo further tests.
Zoning out, Abi was unable to take the scale of the news in and headed out with son Alfie for some fresh air.
At Seb’s memorial garden, she listened to her late son’s final voicemail on her phone, and was left terrified and confused after hearing his voice.
