Coronation Street ‘s Geoff Metcalfe made an unusual comment on last night’s trip to Weatherfield – and fans picked up on it.
The villain, played by Ian Bartholomew, ordered his wife Yasmeen Nazir (Shelley King) to wash her hands in tune to Happy Birthday.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, UK prime minister Boris Johnson has advised civilians to wash their hands in time with the birthday jingle, in an effort to contain the virus.
He said: “Crucially, we must not forget what we can all do to fight this virus, which is to wash our hands with soap and hot water for the length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice.”
Taking to Twitter, viewers wondered whether Geoff’s scenes had been filmed after the spread of the virus, hinting at a potential illness storyline.
Geoff ordered Yasmeen to wash her hands in tune to Happy Birthday (Image: ITV)
One tweeted: “Geoff may be truly evil, but he was right about handwashing pre-corona.”
A second added: “Hang on. The Happy Birthday twice thing while washing your hands was a thing before coronavirus?”
“Geoff has been one step ahead with the #coronavirusuk He’s been isolating Yasmeen for weeks,” chimed a third.
Geoff has been tormenting poor Yasmeen for months now on Coronation Street (Image: ITV)
However, soap expert Sharon Marshall cleared things up on This Morning earlier today, insisting the reference was just a coincidence.
Speaking to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, she said: “Complete coincidence, it was written back in December, it was filmed in January.”
Holly interrupted: “That’s mad!”
Sharon explained the random coronavirus reference on This Morning (Image: ITV)
Sharon continued: “Well what it was, someone on the production line – I believe it was a writer – their kids at school all sang Happy Birthday as they washed their hands.
“So he put it in, and it was all a joke.”
Coronation Street airs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7.30pm and 8.30pm
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
