ITV Share By Laura Morgan Oct 15 2025 By Laura Morgan Oct 15 2025 Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street: Cobbles' first gay character, baby son's tragic death and romance with Billy And the scandal behind the first actor to play him Billy Mayhew Todd Grimshaw Share By Laura Morgan Oct 15 2025 By Laura Morgan Oct 15 2025 Todd Grimshaw has lived on Coronation Street on and off for almost a quarter of a century. He first set foot on the cobbles on January 14, 2001 and was introduced as the son of already established character Eileen Grimshaw. Originally a shy and gentle studious type, Todd’s dark, ruthless side would emerge over the years. He’s been a goodie, a baddie and everything in between. Todd made history as Coronation Street’s first gay character, and his coming out storyline in 2004 broke boundaries. Todd’s love life has often been central to his storylines. He’s currently in an unhealthy relationship with Theo Silverton, whose control over Todd is ramping up. But how did Todd get to this point? Let’s take a look back at his very eventful life in Weatherfield… Article Continues Below Read all the latest Spoilers Todd came to Weatherfield in 2001 (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Todd’s arrival in Coronation Street 16-year-old Todd moved into Number 11 with mum Eileen and older half-brother Jason at the start of 2001. Back then the character was played by actor Bruno Langley. Todd was a student at Weatherfield Comprehensive and had ambitions of going to university. But life had other plans. When Todd started a relationship with teenage mum Sarah Platt he decided to stay put in Weatherfield for her. Eileen was furious by his decision and blamed Sarah for holding her boy back. After moving in together, Sarah fell pregnant with Todd’s baby. The couple made plans to marry and Todd befriended Sarah’s older brother Nick. But then he started to realise he fancied his future brother-in-law. One night while together on the sofa, Todd saw that Nick had his eyes closed. He moved in for a kiss – the show’s first gay kiss – but Nick did not reciprocate. Around 14 million viewers watched the episode. Afterwards, Nick told Sarah what had happened but Todd brushed it off as a moment of drunken madness. She believed his story, unaware that Todd was questioning his sexuality. Todd created Corrie’s first gay kiss (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Todd Grimshaw comes out as gay Todd made the national headlines in 2003 when it was announced the character would become the show’s first gay character. A spokesperson for Corrie described it as a “groundbreaking move” and precited there would be a “huge reaction” from the fans. Not long after the announcement, Todd caught feelings for a gay nurse called Karl Foster. They shared their first kiss during a night out in Manchester’s Gay Village, Canal Street. Todd and Karl then embarked on an affair behind pregnant Sarah’s back. Karl pushed for them to be properly together, but Todd couldn’t bring himself to leave Sarah. After Karl dumped him Todd realised he couldn’t carry on living a lie. He came out to Sarah, but the shock of his bombshell caused her to go into premature labour. It also led to that cobbles catfight between Eileen and Sarah’s mum Gail, who branded Todd a “two-timing, twisted, lying pervert”. Todd cheated on pregnant girlfriend Sarah with nurse Karl (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Sarah and Todd lose their baby son Tragedy struck for Todd and Sarah when they lost their baby boy, Billy, three months before his due date. Sarah suffered a placental abruption, which meant Billy had to be delivered via an emergency caesarian. The tot was placed in intensive care, but Sarah was too heartbroken to allow Todd to see Billy. The following day, on June 2, 2004 Billy died while Sarah was bonding with him. Todd never got to see his son, the only physical memory he had of him was a photograph that Sarah’s mum Gail gave him. Sarah also decided to give Billy the surname Platt as she didn’t want the association with Todd. Despite everything that had happened between them, Todd was by Sarah’s side for Billy’s funeral. Todd then returned to his studies and Sarah started sleeping with his brother Jason. After catching the pair in bed, Todd ended up slapping Sarah. The shame of this caused Todd to move to London and start a new life. What happened to Todd in London? Todd used his time in London wisely. He studied for legal qualifications and spent a number of years working as a law clerk. In 2007 Todd made a flying visit to Weatherfield after scheming David Platt sent him an invitation to Sarah and Jason’s wedding. David did this deliberately to cause drama, but it backfired when the brothers made up and Todd agreed to be Jason’s best man. However, the wedding never actually happened after Jason got cold feet and escaped through a toilet window at the venue. Todd returned to London, where he got together with a man called Sam, who left his wife and kids to be with him. Sam accused Todd of giving him HIV, but this was later proven to be untrue. The couple had an acrimonious split, which made Todd bitter and resentful. In 2011 Todd popped up again for Easter with his moneybags boyfriend Jools. Eileen was delighted to have her boy back (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Todd’s return to Weatherfield After getting the sack from his job in London, Todd decided to move back up north. He returned to Weatherfield in 2013, but was a very different man to the one who’d left six years earlier. Todd was now a manipulative and scheming troublemaker, incapable of telling the truth and intent on hurting others. Todd’s ex-boyfriend Alex Hughes followed him back to Weatherfield and revealed that Todd had stolen money from him. Eileen paid Alex off to leave her son alone. Todd then charmed Eileen’s lodger Sean Tully into convincing her to let him stay at Number 11. He knew full well that Sean fancied him, so decided to use him to get what he wanted. The scheming continued when Todd meddled in his aunt Julie Carp’s relationship with Brian Packham. The couple split, but Todd showed no remorse for what he’d done. Todd stole Marcus from Maria (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Affair with Marcus Dent and more wrongdoings Looking for a new challenge, Todd set his sights on bi-sexual midwife Marcus Dent. He was going out with Maria Connor at the time, but Todd was on a mission to prove that Marcus really only liked men. After relentlessly pursuing him, Todd got what he wanted when Marcus gave into temptation. The lovers only slept together once before Todd decided it was time Maria knew the truth about her boyfriend. He orchestrated it so that Maria and boss Audrey Roberts caught him and Marcus in the act. Maria swiftly dumped Marcus and Todd was victorious. The pair continued dating, but it soon transpired Todd was using Marcus. He later cheated on him, and humiliated Marcus left Weatherfield for London. Todd was momentarily redeemed after he was the victim in a gang attack. He blamed his family and hatched a secret revenge plan. Todd succeeded in destroying Jason’s relationship with Eva Price and posed as a fake online admirer to con Eileen. When the truth came out, Jason punched Todd and Eileen turned her back on him. She eventually forgave her son after he offered Jason a kidney transplant after he was badly beaten by nemesis Callum Logan. Todd and Billy were happy for a while (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Romance with Billy Mayhew Todd’s most mature and committed relationship was with vicar Billy Mayhew. The couple got together not long after Billy’s split from Sean Tully, which caused a lot of upset. Todd and Billy went on to foster Summer Spellman, who was the daughter of Billy’s late former boyfriend. In December 2017, Todd fled Weatherfield with Summer because he feared her grandmother would go for custody. The pair were on the run for a month before the police tracked them down. Todd told Summer to go back and find Billy, before he assaulted a police officer and disappeared. Billy struggled in Todd’s absence and ended up turning to drugs. After cleaning up his act he began a relationship with Paul Foreman. Todd’s explosive comeback By October 2020, Todd had been missing for almost three years. A letter arrived for Eileen, which was supposedly from Todd, asking for £1000. It turned out it was written by a woman called Safia as part of a scam. Billy and Sean contacted the police and learnt that Todd had been released, meaning he was no longer on the run. It transpired that during his absence Todd had working as a legal advisor to a group of criminals. One in particular, Mick Chaney, was out for revenge after discovering Todd had ripped him off. Mick was later revealed to be Todd’s lover. Todd summoned Eileen to meet him at a warehouse. Mick showed up and Todd hit him over the head before he and Eileen fled the scene. Local undertaker George Shuttleworth then came up with the crazy idea of holding a fake funeral for Todd, to get Mick off his case. Mick initially fell for it, but things turned ugly when he realised Todd was still alive. Enraged, Mick was about to shoot his ex dead when Gary Windass clobbered him over the head with a baseball bat. Finally free from Mick’s clutches, Todd tried to resume things with Billy, but it was too late. Despite Billy rejecting Todd, Paul grew paranoid of the ex’s closeness. Todd also tried to get Paul into trouble at work and drive a wedge between him and Billy. Despite Todd’s best efforts, Billy remained with Paul. They went on to wed, but tragedy struck in 2024 when Paul died as a result of complications from MND. Married man Theo left his wife for Todd (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Todd and Theo Todd’s latest boyfriend is scaffolder Theo Silverton. They met in March 2025 when he was working on a house in Victoria Street. At the time, Theo was a closeted gay man, who was married with two children. The pair began an affair, but were soon found out by Theo’s wife Danielle, who called time on the marriage. Theo subsequently moved in with Todd at Number 11. His daughter Danielle attempted to reunite her parents by faking a pregnancy and making out Todd had forced her to get an abortion. Theo has struggled to come to terms with his sexuality and Todd was rocked to discover his boyfriend has a history of violence. He’s also grown increasingly jealous of Todd’s closeness to former love Billy. Theo is now starting to exert control over Todd in a bid to keep him away from Billy. Gareth Pierce took over the role of Todd in 2020 (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock) Who plays Todd in Coronation Street? Todd was originally played by Bruno Langley, who was cast in the role in 2011. Bruno dated his on-screen love interest Tina O’Brien (who plays Sarah Platt) and was close friends with co-star Ryan Thomas (aka Jason Grimshaw), who had a child in real life with Tina later. The actor decided to quit the soap in 2004, but returned for brief appearances in 2007 and 2011. In 2013 it was announced that Bruno Langley would be reprising his role as Todd on a permanent basis. He remained in the show until October 2017 when Todd was abruptly axed. This happened at the same time Bruno Langley was convicted of sexually assaulting two women in a nightclub. His contract was terminated with immediate effect. Todd’s scenes were re-written and he left in December 2017. In 2020 it was announced Welsh actor and singer Gareth Pierce would be taking over the role as Todd. He previously portrayed Gavin Moss in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers. Share Good to Know Share By Laura Morgan Oct 15 2025 By Laura Morgan Oct 15 2025 Previous Story Next Story