Leanne’s Baby Shock
When does Leanne first start to realise that she might be pregnant?
She hurts her back at work and she’s prescribed some painkillers. She feels sick and thinks it might be a reaction to the painkillers. The doctor asks if she might be pregnant and she thinks, ooh hang on… so that plants a seed and before she takes the painkillers she decides todo a pregnancy test.
Had it even crossed her mind before that?
After the one night stand she put it all down as being a bit of a mistake and forgot about it so no, it hadn’t crossed her mind.
How does she feel as she does the pregnancy test?
She doesn’t really think it’s a possibility that she might be pregnant because of her history and what’s happened in the past. She also thinks that this could be her last chance - she’s getting on a bit and there’s nobody on the horizon at the moment romantically.
What’s her reaction when it turns out to be positive?
I think it’s safe to say she wishes it were under better circumstances. But a little bit of her is pleased, she’s just worried about themes it’s going to cause. There’s a lot of mixed feelings because when it comes out who the father could be it could cause a massive upheaval in both their lives.
Just remind us of Leanne’s backstory – I thought she couldn’t have kids?
She fell down the stairs and had a miscarriage and then had pelvic inflammatory disease which damaged one of her fallopian tubes so her chances were minimised.
Is she ready to be a mum at this point, do you think?
Well she’s already got Simon even though he’s not her biological son and she makes the point that she won’t love him any less than this child. She had a difficult upbringing herself and I think where her parents failed she wants to try to give back to Simon and her own child.
What can you tell us about the father?
Nothing! The pregnancy was the result of a one night stand which wasn’t shown on screen and it’ll be a few weeks before the father’s identity is revealed.
How does she think he will react to the news?
There’s so much going on and her way of dealing with him is to say they can pretend this never happened and they don’t even have to talk about it but of course, that’s never going to happen. She’s quite strong and she thinks she can do this on her own but she’s not really thought it through.
What’s going on between her and Nick right now?
There’s an undercurrent of the flame still flickering for them. There’s a deep connection there, he was her first love and she did marry him twice.
What happens when Steph finds the pregnancy test?
Leanne at this point spins quite a few lies to different people so her story changes. She says it was Eva’s but tells Steph to keep it quiet as she wouldn’t want Aidan finding out. Her story keeps changing and she’s getting herself into a bit of a tangled web.
Do you think she believes Leanne’s story?
Steph is quite clued up. Leanne’s been a good friend to Steph and Steph wants to reciprocate. She’s being supportive but she soon smells a rat when she sees Leanne looking a bit green and running to the loo.
How did you react when you found out about this story?
I was really chuffed for Leanne because she’ll get the chance to be a better mum than the one she had. I was pleased that something weirdly is going right for her even though it’s under the wrong circumstances.
What advice would you give to Leanne about her situation?
It’s a tough one. She can’t run away any more. I’d say she has to be truthful. It’s going to hurt people but otherwise it’s going to catch up with her.