Coronation Street‘s Gary Windass announces plans to take a break from the cobbles in tonight’s episode.

Gary shocks his wife Maria Connor as he tries to escape the heat following her furious feud with Lou Michaelis.

In tonight’s episode, Gary struggles to believe that Maria is entirely innocent after her angry showdown with Lou left their nightmare neighbour injured last week.

Maria is livid that her own husband is doubting her and falling for Lou’s tricks.

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Things only get worse when Lou turns up at the flat for some time alone with Gary, seeking out a heart-to-heart after Tim and Sally Metcalfe have reported her to social services.

When Lou gets a moment alone with Gary’s phone, she slyly sends herself an incriminating message which makes it look like they’re having an affair.

Lou then goes a step further by trying to kiss Gary, but he’s horrified and rejects her. Humiliated and angry, Lou threatens to destroy his marriage to Maria by lying about what happened.

With the stress of Maria’s feud and Lou’s malicious antics becoming too much to bear, Gary decides to pack his bags.

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“I’m going to mum’s for a bit,” Gary tells Maria. “For a few days – I’ll call you when I get there.”

Maria desperately tries to convince Gary to change his mind, but suddenly turns cold when she sees bottles of booze from Lou’s earlier visit. Struggling to trust her husband, Maria accuses him of sleeping with Lou.

When Maria protests that Lou is clearly trying to split them up, Gary replies: “She doesn’t have to, Maria – because you’re doing that all by yourself.”

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How long will it take for Lou’s nasty plan to develop further? And when will Gary be back?

Mikey North, who plays Gary, recently admitted: “It’s only going to go downhill from here. It seems that Lou might be cut from the same cloth as Mick, more than meets the eye. That’s to come!”

Coronation Street airs Gary and Maria’s big row tonight at 8pm on ITV1. The episode is also streaming early now on ITVX.