Coronation Street's Billy set for torrid affair as fans fear for Paul on his deathbed

Coronation Street fans think Billy Mayhew could be set to relieve some stress in the form of an affair as his husband Paul Foreman’s health deteriorates.

Paul was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) last year and has since been confined to his flat – unable to safely use his stairlift. Using a motorised wheelchair, Paul can no longer speak and needs a feeding tube to help him eat.

Now spoilers have confirmed his death is set to air next week in heartbreaking scenes – but some fans spotted a “strange” exchange Billy had with another iconic character.

Monday’s episode of the soap (September 2) saw Billy chat to Paul’s twin Gemma and Sean Tully while running errands.

During the conversation, Sean urged Billy to take a break and have a cuppa with him, but Billy insisted he had to get back to Paul. Promising to find him for a catch-up later, Sean said: “Reckon I’ll hold you to that.”

Now fans reckon something could be going on between them – and that’s what might cause Billy to miss his final moments with Paul. Spoilers have already confirmed that Paul urges Billy to go for a drink – and he wakes with a hangover, realising he’s lost his phone.

He dashes off to retrace his steps to find it, worried about losing photos and videos of his husband. But Summer and Bernie later find Paul unresponsive, struggling to breathe – and dash him to the hospital. With no way to contact Billy, will he miss saying goodbye to his husband?

But fans have filled in the blanks of what could happen while Billy is out drinking – and it’s not good. One X user wrote: “Only me who detected a frisson between Billy and Sean last night on #Corrie? Billy set for a soul-sucking affair just as Paul's on his deathbed??”

Another agreed: “As soon as Sean said I’ll hold ya to that cup of tea I had an inkling. Typical Corrie.” Before the original poster echoed: “It makes sense as well if he's blackout drunk next week and feels guilty enough to run off to find his phone, then Paul dies??”

It comes after Billy star Daniel Brocklebank shared his real-life connection to MND, admitting to Metro at the British Soap Awards: “It’s a very personal subject to me. My grandfather died of motor neurone disease so there is always an importance to handle a storyline with truth and integrity, but for me on this one, it feels even bigger.”

He added: “Because MND is such a cruel disease, anything that we can do to help people who are either living with MND or people who are related to people with MND, and hopefully maybe raise some money and make some steps towards finding a cure.”