Coronation Street's Rob Mallard has spoken about the possibility of a romantic connection between Daniel and Bethany.

In scenes set to air next week, Daniel praises Bethany over an article she has written for the local paper, which tells the horrific story of her grooming ordeal. But when the paper decides not to publish the article, Daniel jumps in to defend Bethany and confronts the editor. It isn't long before Bethany finds out what he has done and, as she gazes up at him, sparks seem to fly - with DigitalSpy noting it seems the pair may kiss in the heat of the movement. Mallard maintained that it is a "distraction" for Daniel, who he thinks is trying to keep himself distracted from his fears over his wife Sinead Tinker and the worries the her cancer may return. Speaking to DigitalSpy, he continued:

"Everything else exists on a knife edge. Also, Daniel isn't very good at self-care, so what he does instead is cares for others. "He's like a feeder. Even if he was starving, he'd be feeding other people and that's his form of escapism. You can't blame him for wanting to escape at times."

The actor said that Daniel has been "white-knighting" on behalf of Bethany after she finds out about her article being cut. He said:

"For some reason, Bethany is almost annoyed by him helping her, which could be an indicator that emotionally she's heavily invested in him.

"I think a lot of his help is guilt, and that by him doing good, he feels that increases his chances of his situation improving, which is quite desperate but quite understandable.

"Bethany is a damaged person and has been used a lot, so she gravitates towards his kind actions which leaves her vulnerable to misinterpreting his kindness."

He added that he wasn't sure if Daniel could become emotionally connected to someone other than Sinead. Mallard continued:

"I think Daniel believes in soul mates, which made the threat of losing Sinead even more painful.

"For me, the only way Daniel's head could truly be turned is if something serious happened between him and Sinead. Some would question that her cancer was a wedge between them, but it seems to have just made him more devoted to her."