He’s been away in the Lake District and refusing to come home, but Roy Cropper hot-footed it back to Weatherfield as soon as he discovered that Carla had returned.
However, it became apparent that the cafe owner wasn’t simply excited to see his unlikely bosom buddy – he was worried about her.
During a frank exchange at the bistro, he asked the former factory boss how she was and, when Carla replied with a “fine”, Roy snapped back: “We both know that isn’t the case.”
He urged Carla to confide in her family and friends now she was home, but she was having none of it, ordering Roy to keep his counsel.
Carla has undeniably been attacking a little out of character since she arrived back on the cobbles of Christmas Eve.
She has repeatedly turned down alcoholic drinks – the Carla of old was never further than sniffing distance from a Merlot in the old days.
And when her dad Johnny insisted she have some fizz, she secretly poured it away.
Meeting up with Maria and Michelle in last night’s episode, she sipped on orange juice, prompting her friends to speculate that she is pregnant.
Plenty of Corrie fans are convinced that Carla is having a baby.
One tweeted: “I’m thinking that Carla is pregnant, she’s on the orange juice… that would make sense if that was her secret.”
Another posted: “No drink!! Carla must be pregnant, then!”
Alas, it looks like her secrecy is actually down to something less joyful.
One worried viewer wrote: Right, so Carla has got cancer or something, I don’t think she’s pregnant.
“I don’t know why, but I can’t shake this feeling that Carla is sick,” agreed another.
We hope not, we’ve only just got her back. Our theory? She’s actually had Robert’s baby… and she’s terrified of telling Michelle!