A heroic moment in Corrie next week leads to a horrifying cancer diagnosis for Robert Preston.
Robert, who was released from prison in last night’s episode, is hit by a car while ushering little Joseph Brown from its path.
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The accident lands him in hospital where he’s told a lump in his testicle is very possibly cancerous. How will he cope with that bombshell?
The Bistro owner previously ignored girlfriend Michelle Connor’s pleas to get the suspicious lump checked out by a doctor – instead lying to her and saying he was told it was groin strain.
Tracy Barlow makes a passing comment that Robert has always had a phobia of hospitals since his dad died of cancer and this explains to Michelle why Robert hasn’t faced up to the situation.
She takes matters into her own hands and arranges an appointment for him with the urologist.
After a scan, Robert receives the shocking news that the tumour is probably cancer and is advised to have an operation to remove his testicles.
But Robert continues to bury his head in the sand, hiding the results from Michelle and heading off to the casino.
Despite Johnny trying to stop him, Robert ends up losing A LOT of money at the poker table. His web of lies gets worse as he tells Michelle he only lost £100.
Will this be a wake-up call for Robert to have the operation that could potentially save his life?
Tristan Gemmill, who plays the stunned chef, has spoken out about his storyline: “Robert just can’t handle it, he’s terrified that he might go the same way as his father but he is not able to share that with the one person he really probably should share that with and that’s Michelle,” he said.
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He added: “There is a fair amount of responsibility depicting something that is sadly quite common and I wanted to portray it in the most realistic way possible.
“I hope to do it justice. If we can contribute to getting the message out there that if you find these things early, you can do something about it then I think we can do some good.”