Exclusive: Coronation Street villain breaks silence on Sarah's trial outcome

Coronation Street's Sarah Platt is currently on trial for killing Theo Silverton, where she's hoping to convince the court that she acted in self-defence. It's not looking good for her.

Obviously, Theo's death means that his actor James Cartwright has had to leave the soap, but does he want Sarah to go down for it or not?

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Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy at the recent Inside Soap Awards, Cartwright revealed that he's actually on Sarah's side!

"I really hope she gets off with it. To the jury — let her off!" he said. "He was an absolute stinker, what a horror of a man.

"It's great how it ended, it's great that he met his end. And absolutely — free Sarah Platt! And also let's not get Gary involved in this — I mean, he disposed of a bit, but he did it for love!"

When asked him for more thoughts on Theo's death, Cartwright said that he loved how "unexpected" and "dramatic" it was, noting that it was full of poetic irony.

"What greater justice than a scaffolder going off some scaffolding after a scaff pole to the back of the head? I really, really enjoyed it," he said.

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"Essentially a soap is a very moral medium. So we want your underdogs to triumph and your villains to meet a sticky end, which isn't always how it happens in life. But isn't it great that there's a place on television where that can happen?

"And people can see that, and all of your darkest fantasies of going 'oh I tell you what, I'd bloody love to do him in the back of the head with a scaff pole!' And then it happens! It's a great thing."

Cartwright nabbed the Best Villain award for his performance as Theo, and told us: "I think we have to accept that he wasn't always the easiest man to like. But the fact that people maybe seemed to, I am beyond overwhelmed and I'm so humbled and incredibly grateful.

"And I'm not on social media so I can't do a long post and say what it means! But if I may just say thank you to anyone who took time to vote, I'm really grateful. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you."

Since leaving Corrie, Cartwight has gone back to radio drama The Archers, which he calls "one of the great joys of my life". He was one of the many, many actors and production team members who signed an open letter to the BBC calling for the broadcaster to reverse its decision about the show's home.

Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.

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