Coronation Street icon Eva Price makes bombshell return in new teaser trailer
Coronation Street has revealed the first look at Eva Price's return with an explosive trailer as Catherine Tyldesley returns to the soap to take over the Rovers Return
Coronation Street fans have been given their first look at Eva Price's return. The legendary character has not been seen on the ITV soap since 2018, but will be making a huge comeback as part of a new family unit in scenes set to air next week.
Viewers will be introduced to Eva’s husband Ben Driscoll played by Aaron McCusker , and he he surprises her by revealing he has bought the Rovers Return and informs her that she is the new landlady, taking on a role previously held by soap legends like Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear), Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) and the recently-departed Jenny Bradley (Sally Ann Matthews).
In a new teaser trailer just released by ITV, Eva and her husband are seen wasting no time in settling into the pub and welcoming all the regulars with a huge opening party but things never run smoothly on the nation's most famous street and Ben’s mum Maggie (Pauline McLynn) soon arrives with some shocking news for Eva.
In 2011, Eva was introduced to Weatherfield as part of a new family who were set to take over the Rovers Return then. At the time, the shakeup saw EastEnders legend Michelle Collins arrive as Eva's mum and new landlady Stella Price, who revealed that she was also the long-lost mother of established character Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson). Primarily, Eva worked as a barmaid at the Rovers but also had stints at Underworld and Nick's Bistro.
Over the course of seven years, Catherine saw her alter-ego through numerous relationships with the likes of Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis) and Nick Tilsey (Ben Price). Her most notable relationship was with Aidan Connor (Shayne Ward), but that started to go awry when he began an affair with Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon).
Instead of confronting Aidan head-on about his infidelity, she decided to take revenge by putting a bright pink Range Rover on his credit card and then decided to fake a pregnancy. Maria discovered Eva's lies and exposed them all at the wedding but Eva later discovered that she was in fact pregnant with Aidan's baby.
In order to go through with the birth in secret, she went off to a remote cottage and had planned to give baby Susie away to her stepsister Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor). However, Aidan later took his own life and Eva began to grow close to her daughter, eventually opting to leave in the back of a taxi with her for good.
Eva's return will see her reunited with her siblings and she will arrive with Susie (Aurora Bradshaw) and Ben’s two sons Will (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) and Ollie (Raphael Akuwudike) in tow as part of a blended family. In yet another twist, fans will already recognise Ollie as he has been seen getting close to Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) in recent weeks, although she recently announced her departure from the show.
Catherine has appeared in shows such as Scarborough and The Good Ship Murder since her exit from the serial. She was also set to star in a cancelled touring production of Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical last year and went viral over a social media scandal known as Cakegate in late 2023.
But Catherine has confessed she had been asked to head back previously, explaining that now was simply 'the right time' for her. Speaking to The Mirror, she said: "I really meant what I said when I left, that I would love to come back, cos Eva is so much fun to play. And it felt really serendipitous I suppose.
"I was in Malta, filming, and my agent said, ‘Kate would like to speak to you about Corrie’, and I assumed it was someone’s funeral. I thought ‘Somebody’s dying, they want me to rock up.’
"I remember my agent said ‘I don’t really know what to expect, let’s just keep a poker face, let’s hear her out, let’s see what happens.’ We were on a zoom and Kate said ‘Would you like to be landlady?’ and I went ‘Aaagh!!’ My agent was like that, ‘Nice one.’ I was just really shocked, really shocked.
Coronation Street is on ITV and STV at 8pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday and ITVX and STV Player at 7am