Coronation Street's Steve McDonald certainly hasn't had a good time of it of late. Still grieving from the devastating loss of baby Ruairi, he is now coming to terms with the news that his secret biological son, Oliver, has been born after Leanne gave birth in a lift on Monday night. Happy to let Nick (Ben Price) play the doting dad, Steve (Simon Gregson) has been doing his best to avoid meeting his secret son to avoid further upset. However, in Friday night's episode time is up for Steve – and he is left holding his own baby!
© Photo: ITVThe Platts welcome baby Oliver into their family
© Photo: ITVSteve reluctantly takes a photo of the Platts playing happy families his biological son
© Photo: ITVIt isn't long before Steve is left holding baby Oliver
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After getting caught up in a last-minute party at the Bistro to celebrate the arrival of baby Oliver hosted by doting grandma, Gail, David then asks Steve to capture the happy moment and take a photo of the family. If that wasn’t bad enough, he is then handed over his son to hold! Yikes. Steve had done well until now to avoid meeting Oliver, even leaving a heartbroken Michelle to visit the newborn alone and face a guilty Leanne.
In tear-jerking scenes, Michelle was seen talking to the baby, saying: “You have no idea how special you are. Your mummy waited such a long time for you. And now you’re here, she loves you all the more”. Even more tragically, Kym Marsh, who plays the much-loved character in the soap, sadly lost her own baby Archie back in 2009, while Simon Gregson revealed on Twitter that him and his wife, Emma, have lost 11 babies during their 17 year marriage.
© Photo: ITVMichelle's visit to see the new baby was raw with emotion
Baby Oliver's arrival wasn't short of drama, with Leanne giving birth while stuck in a lift
With the recent news of Ben Price’s impending departure in the soap, what's the guessing with this tying in with Steve stepping up his role as Oliver’s dad? Speaking to Holly and Phil on This Morning earlier this week, Ben opened up about the current storyline. "I don't want anyone to find out. It's a bit strange, I think Nick wants the perfect family doesn't he? He wants to stand by Leanne, he wants to be that guy. He wants to be the good man – I will look after you. But it's going to come out," said Ben. "I think he's always tried to make it right in the best way he can and it's not maybe going to be right."
The soap star and doting dad only has a few months left on the show before he leaves to spend time with his family. "I'll be making papier-mâché volcanoes and reading stories to my kids and taking them to school and then we'll see. I don't know," he said of his future plans. "I've just got to go home. Yeah, it's great. I lose one family and I gain my family back and I think that's a perfect trade."
