The soap matriarch (played by Barbara Knox) confessed why she had been struggling recently over remembering things after Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) booked her a doctor’s appointment.
She confirmed to Gemma and Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden) that she had checked the side effects of the medicines and found out that they did alter memory.
Despite the problems seemingly being explained, Coronation Street fans were less than convinced as they took to social media to discuss the storyline, with one person posting: “Is Rita telling the truth? Not convinced #corrie.”
A second person posted on Twitter: “Think maybe Rita knows she’s got a problem and is blaming her tablets #corrie.”
“Is Rita telling the truth though and the papers were wrong that it’s a brain tumour? #Corrie,” a third person wrote.
The scenes come as Coronation Street boss Kate Oates teased that Rita’s health was going to take a turn for the worse in upcoming episodes where Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) and Aidan Connor (Shane Ward) get married.
Speaking to media including Express.co.uk, the ITV producer said she was impressed with the 84-year-old actress’ portrayal of her difficult storyline.
“We’ve also got the heartbreaking story with Rita, and we are reminded how amazing the great Barbara Knox is and how lucky we are to have her,” Kate explained.
There has been speculation that soap star Barbara, 83, could be leaving the series due to the hard-hitting storyline but nothing has yet been confirmed.
Along with Rita’s plot line, there was plenty of drama this evening as Pat Phelan (Connor McIntrye) was nearly caught out again after a series of photos of Andy Carver (Oliver Farnworth) spilled out of his bag only for his daughter Nicola Rubenstein (Nicola Thorp) to find them.
Also, there was more trouble afoot when Will Chatterton (Leon Ockenden) tried to cause Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) more problems by planting drugs in the Bistro to land her in trouble.
Will looked on in glee as Michelle was sent reeling and wrongly confronted drug dealer Rich Collis (Fraser Ayres) over the pills, only for the police to get involved.
Coronation Street continues on ITV on Monday at 7.30pm.
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