James Craven has admitted that he was relieved that his Coronation Street character Aaron wound up realising the truth about what he had done.
Earlier this year, Aaron got drunk with flatmate Amy (Elle Mulvaney) and shared a passionate kiss, but when they moved to the bedroom and she passed out, he proceeded to have sex with her.
Amy then accused him of rape, leaving him in staunch denial for the last few months, but in tonight's episode the penny finally dropped for Aaron and he decided to make a guilt-ridden exit from Weatherfield.
"I think I was always hoping that he would admit it or have some sort of admittance," said Craven, who is leaving Corrie after a year on the cobbles.
"I liked that there wasn't anything particularly overly dramatic about it, and I think unfortunately that is quite realistic, because there are so many of these cases in real life where people don't face justice and people aren't prosecuted for it. So I think whilst that's obviously quite a hard thing to come to terms with for Amy, it is sadly quite realistic.
"I never wanted him to get away with it but I think it's one of those things that he's now got to live with it, knowing what he's done."
© ITV
Discussing the moment when Aaron realised what he had done, Craven continued: "He has been a good character and the whole time throughout this story he's been telling himself that he's not capable of doing something like this.
"He would never do something intentionally, he's always been a thoughtful caring person, so the realisation that he might have done this was really devastating for him.
"And also the realisation that he is the one who's put Amy through all of this is awful. I do think it came from a lack of education, a lack of awareness to stop and check in with her rather than malice but nevertheless it's just as devastating."
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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