Corrie fans ecstatic as Carla Connor makes an early ‘appearance’

Christmas came early for Coronation Street viewers as Carla Connor made an early return to the soap.

The character, played by Alison King, was last seen in Weatherfield in May 2016 and is due back over the festive season.

But she made a return – of sorts – in the first of Monday night’s episodes of the ITV soap, when Michelle (Kym Marsh) was seen chatting to her on the phone.

Fans were delighted to hear Carla being mentioned on the Cobbles.

One tweeted: “Just hearing Michelle speak to Carla excites me. Roll on Carla’s Return.”

“MICHELLES ON THE PHONE TO CARLA I AM SHAKING,” said another excited viewer.

“Oooh cheeky ‘Carla’ mention. Ready for her return… ” posted another.

King, 44, played Carla for 10 years before she left the programme last year.

Discussing her exit, the actress has previously said she wanted to spend more time with her daughter.

Meanwhile Robert Preston was a bit of a superhero as he managed to stop Joseph Brown and Jake Windass getting hit by the Bistro van – which was being driven by a distracted Kate Connor.

Still reeling from Rana choosing Zeedan over her, lovelorn Kate took her eyes off the road to look down at her phone as Rana called her.

Distracted by the call, Kate didn’t see Robert running into the path of the car – until it was too late – sending him hurtling over the bonnet and whacking his head on the ground.

Luckily, the boys escaped unscathed.

Robert was rushed to hospital and was told he would have to be kept in overnight to make sure he wasn’t suffering from concussion.

The news didn’t go down well with the bistro-owner who snapped at Michelle and then told her he wanted to sleep, leaving her to head home confused.

She also learned that Robert hadn’t gone to see the doctor yet about the lump in his testicles.

Tracy Barlow shed some light on Robert’s strange behaviour around the lump, revealing that he’d always hated hospitals since he watched his father die from cancer.

Tracy had some interesting news for Chesney too, telling him that she’d seen Sinead heading into Daniel’s flat earlier that afternoon.

Chesney was shocked as Sinead had supposed to be looking after Joseph, but had palmed him off on Izzy before going and getting drunk with Beth.

Daniel found her stumbling home and convinced her to come upstairs for coffee. The ex-lovers finally spoke about how their relationship ended and the baby Sinead terminated.

There’s clearly still a spark between them, but Sinead turned away when Daniel tried to kiss her, reminding him that she’s engaged.

Chesney headed to the Bistro to see Daniel, but instead of confronting him, he offered him an olive branch, saying they should try to get along.

Read more: Is this how Corrie’s Todd leaves the soap?

Daniel was surprised but accepted Chesney’s gesture – not knowing it’s actually part of a plan for Ches to get his own back on Daniel for making moves on his woman.