Aiden Lester was a colleague of Marcus Dent at Weatherfield General. Marcus brought him to the Rovers Return in May 2012 and introduced him to Maria Connor, intent on getting them together, unaware that Aiden was gay. When Maria made a move on Aiden, he revealed his sexuality to her and a shocked Marcus, and explained that he had been under the impression that Marcus was interested in him.
Marcus later consoled Aiden when his father reacted badly to the fact that he had turned out gay, much to the annoyance of Marcus' boyfriend Sean Tully. Sean's jealousy caused Marcus to storm out and go for a drink with Aiden. However, when Aiden tried to kiss Marcus he gave him the brush-off, saying that he loved Sean, despite their argument. When Marcus never returned home the same evening, instead deciding to sleep on Maria's couch, Sean assumed that he had slept with Aiden, leading to them splitting up due to Sean's insecurities.
Aiden and Marcus remained friends and eventually began dating. Eileen Grimshaw invited the couple for dinner, thinking Sean wouldn't be there as he had told them he had a date (which was just a ruse to make show off to Marcus). However, Sean returned home early from his 'date' while Aiden and Marcus were still there. He then got drunk and embarrassed himself by making snide remarks about Aiden, causing tensions to rise between the two, although Sean later apologised.
Marcus and Maria later began to develop feelings for each other, although they initially ignored these feelings. When Aiden was offered a job promotion in London, he planned to ask Marcus to move with him. Maria offered to sound him out and was pleased when Marcus said he didn't miss London and wouldn't like to leave friends. Maria told Aiden who put the job offer in the bin. However, a guilty Maria recovered it and put it in with Marcus's post. When Marcus found it he realised Maria had been meddling and confronted her. They gave in to their feelings and slept together. The following day, Marcus regretted this and chose to move with Aiden instead of staying with Maria, but got cold feet and lied to Aiden that he was still in love with Sean. A distraught Aiden then left alone.
List of appearances[]
2012