Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) has been really struggling following Billy Mayhew’s funeral in Coronation Street earlier this week.

Billy was killed when the minibus he’d been driving exploded following a multi-vehicle pile-up. He’d been trapped in the driver’s seat by Theo Silverton (James Cartwright), who wanted to prevent him from exposing his abuse of Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce).

Bernie and Billy had been close, as he was married to her son Paul. Tragically, Paul passed away last year from MND.

In tonight’s episode, it became even clearer just how affected she was by Billy’s death as she headed out for a drink with her friends.

Unfortunately, she soon separated from the pack and ended up in the bar of the Chariot Square Hotel, where she found herself chatting to Mal Roper (Tim Treloar).

Mal was also feeling down, having just found out that his wife, Alice, had been secretly liaising with Roy Cropper (David Neilson).

Mal and Bernie were like two peas in a pod as they opened up to each other about their current problems, before eventually deciding to have some fun.

The pair continued drinking until Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott) told them to turn their music off, threatening to kick them out if they didn’t, before they headed up to Mal’s hotel room.

It was here that things began to escalate as they started taking drugs.

They continued to listen to their loud music until the early hours of the morning, when Ryan was once again forced to ask them to keep the noise down.

When he found Mal asleep on the bed and Bernie sat beside him, he was obviously suspicious, but she assured him that nothing happened.

That isn’t quite true, as Mal had tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away and reminded him that she was married.

However, when she admitted to having taken pills, Ryan told her to go home, pointing out that Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) wouldn’t see it as nothing.

Meanwhile, Dev was concerned for his wife, and left a message on her phone as he wondered where she was.

It soon transpired that she didn’t plan on going home after leaving the hotel. Instead, she ended up in a bar, where she passed out in a toilet cubicle.