A chilling supernatural twist is set to grip Coronation Street this summer as Lisa finds herself tormented by a ghost from the past—Becky McDonald, a name fans thought had long faded into the show’s history. But now, she’s back… in the most haunting way possible.

The new arc—already being dubbed the “Corrie Nightmare” storyline—is unlike anything the show has done in years, weaving mystery, guilt, and the paranormal into the lives of Weatherfield’s most vulnerable characters. And at the center of it all is Lisa, unraveling under the weight of old secrets, ghostly apparitions, and a truth that refuses to stay buried.

Who Is Becky McDonald?

For newer fans, Becky McDonald (played by Katherine Kelly) was a fiery, passionate, and deeply troubled character who left Coronation Street in 2012 after years of turbulent drama. A survivor of trauma, addiction, and heartbreak, Becky finally found a chance at peace after moving to Barbados.

Since then, her name has been mentioned only occasionally—until now.

The twist? Becky is not dead, as far as longtime viewers know. Which raises the chilling question: what exactly is Lisa seeing?

Lisa’s Spiral Begins

It all starts innocently enough. Lisa (a relatively new resident on the Street) begins acting distant and distracted. Friends notice she’s barely sleeping, and she begins to suffer from vivid nightmares. Soon, she starts seeing things—a woman in a yellow jacket, standing at the end of the street. Watching. Waiting.

At first, Lisa assumes it’s stress. But when she describes the figure to Sean and Eileen, Sean goes pale. “That sounds like Becky,” he says quietly.

As the sightings increase, so do strange occurrences around Lisa’s flat: lights flickering, doors slamming, an old mobile phone she doesn’t own ringing in the middle of the night—always playing the same song Becky once loved: “You Don’t Own Me.”

What’s the Connection?

At first, no one can explain why Becky would haunt Lisa—until Lisa confesses a secret she’s never told anyone.

Years ago, while working at a Manchester shelter for at-risk women, Lisa met someone using a fake name. She was brash, broken, funny—and running from something. Lisa now believes that woman was Becky, hiding from the fallout of her failed marriage and custody battles.

But Lisa did something she never forgave herself for: she turned Becky away, thinking she was lying and dangerous. Days later, there was a fire at the shelter. One woman died. The others vanished. Lisa has never stopped wondering if Becky was one of them—or if Becky somehow blames her for what happened that night.

Could Becky have died, offscreen, in that fire? Has her spirit returned to expose the truth?

Ghost… or Psychological Breakdown?

As Lisa’s experiences grow darker, she begins questioning her sanity. She wakes up with scratches on her arms, hears voices whispering her name, and finds cryptic notes scrawled across her mirrors in lipstick:
“You left me.”
“It’s not over.”
“You know what you did.”

She begins avoiding work, isolating herself, and even lashes out at Dev and Aadi, who try to intervene. Only Roy Cropper—with his quiet wisdom and calming presence—manages to reach her, urging Lisa to explore whether what she’s seeing is truly paranormal, or a manifestation of deep guilt.

A séance at Roy’s flat with Nina, Mary, and a skeptical George Shuttleworth brings shocking results. The medium collapses mid-session, whispering Becky’s name, and gasping:
“She’s not gone.”

Secrets Unearthed

As the hauntings grow, Lisa begins digging into the shelter fire from years ago. She tracks down old colleagues, one of whom finally admits that there was a woman matching Becky’s description—only she used a different name and had left days before the fire.

That woman later died under mysterious circumstances near a canal in Salford, ruled a suicide. Her ID was never confirmed. Lisa becomes convinced it was Becky—and that her death wasn’t suicide, but foul play.

What’s more shocking? A local councillor and real estate developer at the time paid for the case to be quietly closed. Why?

Becky’s Death… or a Fake-Out?

In a massive cliffhanger coming later this month, Lisa receives a burnt photograph in her letterbox: it’s Becky, smiling—and standing with a young girl. On the back, scrawled in ink:
“She’s yours now.”

Fans are already speculating: was Becky hiding a child? Did she leave her daughter behind? And is Lisa now the unwitting guardian of Becky’s legacy?

Even wilder: is Becky actually alive, sending these messages from the shadows to force Lisa to reveal what happened that night?

Fan Theories Are Exploding

Social media is alight with theories:

• “This is Corrie’s gothic era! Loving it!”

• “Lisa’s being haunted by her own guilt, not a ghost.”

• “Becky faked her death and is pulling the strings—this is revenge.”

Some fans believe the haunting is all in Lisa’s mind—possibly triggered by a neurological illness or PTSD. Others believe it’s a classic ghost story… with a Corrie twist.

What’s Next?

Producers tease that Lisa’s arc will run through Halloween 2025, ending in a jaw-dropping live episode where the truth about Becky will be fully revealed.

“We’re doing something we’ve never done before,” said one executive. “This storyline will blend psychological drama, unresolved trauma, and supernatural suspense in a way that feels uniquely Coronation Street—emotional, grounded, but eerie as hell.”