Coronation Street fans have been left wondering if two major characters have been secretly axed - because they have been missing for weeks. The ITV soap kicked off earlier this week with Gemma Winter encouraging people to donate generously at a chilli eating competition aimed at raising money for her ill brother Paul Foreman, who is battling motor neurone disease. Elsewhere on the cobbles, Ryan Connor decided to return to work following his acid attack while Roy Cropper (David Neilson) seemed to be getting dangerously close to another Weatherfield resident.