Coronation Street fans have been full of praise for Gareth Pierce and Tony Maudsley following some moving scenes with their characters.

Recently, Gareth’s Corrie character Todd Grimshaw revealed to Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) that he was being tested for bowel cancer.

On Monday, Todd caused concern for Tony’s soap alter-ego George Shuttleworth, as he began discussing mortality and his own funeral plans outside the parlour.

This, along with Todd’s distant behaviour, left George wondering if something might be seriously wrong with his friend.

As he pondered, Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins) pointed out to George that he’s the only parental figure Todd has left in Weatherfield, so he needed to investigate and find out what’s going on.

A snoop at Todd’s emails allowed George to learn that he was attending a hospital appointment – all alone.

George arrived at the hospital and found Todd in the waiting room. He listened as Todd described what’s been going on with him recently, and he’s moments away from learning if he does have bowel cancer.

George, who is Eileen Grimshaw’s (Sue Cleaver) ex, was worrying about Todd prior to this, but is unaware partner Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) has started abusing him.

George focused on the present rather than asking about Todd’s relationship, and did his best to remind his mate that he’s always there.

Todd isn’t particularly good at talking about his feelings, so when George said that he loves him, his response was to try and make light of the situation.

Just as Todd’s name was called, George held his hand.

Following these scenes, star Tony Maudsley shared a picture of Todd and George on his Instagram. He simply captioned the post: ‘A problem shared…’.

Plenty of Corrie fans shared comments underneath, sharing the love for the two characters.

‘Absolutely gorgeous, more George & Toddicles please!’, one user said.

Another wrote: ‘Special friendship’, while the account Julie.Keighley noted in agreement: ‘Great scene.’

The scene between Todd and George was perhaps tinged with tragedy as well, given what Todd is going through with Theo at the moment.

We’ve already seen Theo make great efforts to isolate Todd from Billy and as the storyline continues, it’s very possible he will stop Todd from spending time with George as well.

The results of Todd’s cancer test left him relieved, as he learnt that he does not have the illness.

When he got home, he accepted Billy’s offer of wine in the flat as a way to celebrate.

While this was happening, Theo was in the Bistro with friends Gary Windass (Mikey North) and newcomer Pete. Prior to ordering shots, Theo had asked Billy about Todd, but he failed to disclose whether anything was going on with him.

As Theo distracted himself, so did Todd. It was obvious that Todd felt safer and more comfortable at Billy’s and didn’t really care that he hadn’t contacted Theo.

In the end, Theo called Todd. Worried about the reaction if he told he truth, Todd lied to his partner and claimed that he was still working.

Unbeknownst to Todd, Theo then headed to the funeral parlour, where George accidentally confirmed that his boyfriend hadn’t been honest.

An angry Theo shoved the takeaway into the bin and found a drunk Todd and Billy talking outside the flat.

Billy was encouraging Todd to go home, but he really didn’t want to. Instead, he decided to return to the flat, telling Billy that he would sleep on his sofa.

But with Theo unable to hear the conversation, it left his mind spiralling.

Clearly wanting to spite Todd, Theo set his eyes on Pete and decided it would be a brilliant idea to join him in town for more drinks.

In the latest episode, available now on ITVX, Todd returns to the flat after spending the night at Billy’s.

To his horror, Pete emerges from the bathroom wearing his dressing gown, and it doesn’t take him long to realise that Theo did cheat on him.

‘I think the audience will already be noticing the ways that Todd is briefly relaxed with his friends and his close confidants like Sarah (Tina O’Brien), George and Billy’, star Gareth Pierce said.

‘Then when Theo enters the room, straight away he’s back in that tense, people pleasing, anticipatory kind of headspace.

‘It’s that horrible feeling, like when you go into school and you haven’t done your homework and you have that feeling in the pit of your stomach.’