By Jessica Sansome
Coronation Street fans have been left baffled by another ‘missing’ Weatherfield resident – and they want answers on his whereabouts. It’s been quite a while since fans last saw Ken Barlow on the street, having discovered the truth about his carer-turned-friend Cassie Plummer. As fans of the ITV soap know, the cobbles stalwart, played by William (Bill) Roache, saw his health take a sudden turn for the worse, as he was completely unaware he was being secretly drugged by Cassie in a shock ploy to stay in his life as much as long as she could. After her surprise entrance into her family’s lives back in 2023, Cassie found herself in the fold at No.1 Coronation Street, having become Ken’s carer, which came after he fell down the stairs and fractured his pelvis. Get all the latest Corrie gossip and spoilers in our newsletter here But towards the end of last year, when he eventually decided it was time to let her go, Cassie took drastic action and was seen spiking Ken’s drinks. Things then took a dramatic turn when Ken was rushed to hospital, but Cassie escaped when Tracy Barlow was blamed for mixing up Ken’s medication which she dropped on the floor. Realising she could have been caught, Cassie changed to spiking the Weatherfield stalwart with antihistamines in a bid to make him drowsy so that he still needed her. But to make matters even worse, she also started making expensive purchases with his credit card. But Ken finally figured out what was going on and after suffering a heart attack and being rushed to hospital, Ken used his first words after coming around from an emergency operation to tell his loved ones about what Cassie had done, leading to her arrest. Eventually, Ken softened towards Cassie and seemingly understood her desparation and didn’t want to take criminal matters any further. He then headed to stay in the Lakes to recover from his ordeal, and has barely been seen since. Now, despite Cassie’s actions, Steve McDonald has decided to give things a go between the pair and they’ve been seen making the most of an empty No.1 Coronation Street. And it’s left fans asking about Ken’s return. @LauraJeanneH asked: “Did Ken ever return from his holiday?? #corrie.” @RyanSoapKing25 echoed: “Where is Ken at the moment? I wonder how he’d react to Steve and Cassie getting together? #Corrie.” @TraylorHolmes commented: “Everyone just putting to one side that Cassie drugged Ken and stole his money (apart from Tracy of course). Sure #Corrie.” @tamlizann25 posted: “Where is Ken, how does he feel about Steve and Cassie #Corrie @itvcorrie.” Llamallamapig wrote on Reddit: “Steve and Claire Sweeney are getting it on in his house and he is AWOL. Is he with Gary?” ModicumPhooeyKablooy added: “Probably having rest, he’s in his 90’s and had a relatively big storyline with the Cassie thing.”