As ITV thriller Cheat continued last night, viewers bombarded social media with theories over a potential secret connection between protagonist Leah and her nemesis Rose.
The four-part story follows university lecturer Leah, played by Corrie’s Katherine Kelly, who accused one of her students (Molly Windsor) of cheating on an assignment.
Read more: Everything we know about ITV drama Cheat starring Katherine Kelly
Rose took the accusation badly and with Leah’s life now falling apart, she’s fighting to uncover the truth about what’s happening to her.
The shocking series opener, aired on Monday, saw the lecturer’s cat Betsy murdered and viewers were absolutely mortified.
During the second instalment, Leah’s husband Adam (Tom Goodman-Hill) was seduced by Rose, who obtained a sexually explicit photo of him and sent it to his wife in the closing scenes.
Viewers had no sympathy for Adam whatsoever and took to Twitter to drag him over the coals, even though we know from a flash-forward that he dies at some point in the series.
Now, viewers on Twitter think they’ve managed to crack exactly what it is that’s driving Rose’s vengeful ways – and, perhaps not surprisingly, it’s not all about the cheating accusation.
One user offered up the possibility that Rose is Leah’s daughter, tweeting: “My theory on #Cheat… Rose is her daughter. Put her up for adoption yrs ago, hence the reluctance to have a kid now and Rose stalking her.”
https://twitter.com/penners78/status/1105738826281041920
That stance was echoed by many others, with some suggesting that Rose could even turn out to be Leah’s sister or half-sister.
So is Rose the sister or daughter of Leah??? And which one killed Adam??? Gripping psychological drama #Cheat
— Lisa Jenkins (@LisaJenkins9) March 12, 2019
I think Rose is Leah's daughter #Cheat
— 𝑲 𝒂 𝒕 𝒊 𝒆 ✌🏻💋 (@pjkatiee) March 13, 2019
So my #Cheat theories
Rose's mum was a mature student/student and was accused of cheating by leah's dad which lead to her "accident"which Rose when she grew up plotted her revenge him by destroying his daughters life…….or
She's leah's half sister….or
She's just PHYSCO pic.twitter.com/Y4um418897
— ⛱️Dame Missus Dubs SAME SHIT DIFFERENT YEAR⛱️ (@PINKSUZIQ72) March 13, 2019
Rose is Leah’s long lost sister/daughter. Calling it! #cheat
— Cara (@caraaaa95) March 12, 2019
Another reasoned that it would make sense for Rose to want to ruin Leah’s “perfect life and marriage” if the latter abandoned her when she was little.
https://twitter.com/JustLee_Lee/status/1105590524713553920
Cheat got off to a particularly raunchy start before firmly establishing itself as one of ITV’s darkest thrillers of recent times.
Read more: Corrie’s Nicola Thorp shares a little-known connection to Katherine Kelly
Within the first five minutes of the first episode, viewers were shocked to see Katherine Kelly’s character performing a solo sex act in a toilet cubicle while fantasising about a colleague she fancies.
Do you have any theories about Leah’s connection with Rose? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.