Storylines
Jason is the eldest son of Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) and Tony Stewart (Alan Igbon/Terence Maynard). Jason does not know his father for many years, but they reunite in 2003. Upon his arrival, he is an aspiring runner – something which Eileen does not completely approve of. He works for a brief period in Sally Webster's (Sally Dynevor) electrical shop in 2001 until the failing business catches fire and is permanently closed down. He finds a traumatised Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) lying in the ginnel, following her rape in April 2001, whilst out jogging early one morning.
Although Jason has had many romances, all of them were short-lived since he has a fear of commitment. He has had many flings with street residents, Candice Stowe (Nikki Sanderson) and Sarah-Louise Platt (Tina O'Brien). He seemed to have settled down with Violet Wilson (Jenny Platt), even uncharacteristically promising to care for her when he thought she was pregnant. Jason is stunned to learn about Violet sharing a drunken kiss with his enemy/employer, Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward). He attempts to continue the relationship but is unable to forgive Violet and ends their relationship. During their separation, he starts dating Sarah and despite reconciling with Violet, he continues his affair with her. Eventually, Violet discovers the affair and dumps Jason. Separated from Violet again, Jason and Sarah continue their relationship, much to the dismay of their mothers. Their relationship struggles initially as Sarah feels insecure about his feelings for Violet and the fact he proposed to Sarah while still with Violet, leading to a showdown in which Sarah ends her relationship with Jason in the Rovers. After days of constant quarrels, Jason ultimately decides to get back with Sarah and after she refuses to speak to him, Jason breaks into her house and proposes. She accepts, although they suffer further disapproval from their mothers. They announce their engagement in the Rovers in Violet's presence, which Sarah wants to do to make a point. The wedding, though, is a disaster. Jason develops cold feet and flees through a toilet window at the venue, leaving Sarah heartbroken. After months of ignoring Jason, Sarah reunites with him. However, on Christmas Day 2006, Jason has a major surprise delivered to the front door in the shape of a baby – supposedly his little girl by a young woman called Emma (Stephanie Waring). It later turns out that baby Holly is the baby of Charlie Stubbs.
Out of revenge for his family disowning him, David loosens the bolts on the scaffolding at the builder's yard on 22 October 2007, a week before Jason and Sarah's wedding. Later, David decides that it was a bad idea, however he gets to the builder's yard to see Jason leaning on the balcony. When Bill jumps on him as a joke, the two of them fall onto the street below, Bill on top of Jason. [17] In the hospital, Jason is told that he might not walk again for some time. He is on crutches at his and Sarah's wedding.
Sarah asks Jason to take her wedding dress to the cleaners but he accidentally leaves it in Roy's Rolls where David picks it up and puts it in a puddle before putting it in a bin bag with other bits and pieces that the Morton kids get from their neighbours. The Mortons' Guy Fawkes gets first prize and, as the dress burns, Sarah recognises it as her wedding dress before Jason admits that he lost it. Sarah knows immediately that David was responsible. Jason, Sarah and her daughter Bethany (Amy & Emily Walton) are set to leave for Milan on 30 December 2007, after Sarah gets a job from her uncle Stephen (Todd Boyce). Jason backs out when Sarah admits that she planted drugs in David's drawer at the salon, thereby ruining his chances of Stephen offering him the job in Italy.
On New Year's Eve 2007, Jason and Becky Granger (Katherine Kelly) kiss as the midnight bells chimes, and on 1 February 2008, they have sex. Jason regrets it afterwards and visits Sarah in Milan to tell her he had cheated on her with Becky. Instead of forgiving him, she attacks him, giving him a black eye. When he returns to the Street, Becky hits him too. [18]
Several months later, Jason and Becky have sex again and they become a couple. However, they argue when Jason wants a night in alone. In October 2008, Jason discovers that Sarah is considering coming home. He immediately phones her and she agrees to give him another chance. Meanwhile, he is preparing to move in with Becky but dumps her and flies to Italy. Becky later attacks him in the Rovers for his betrayal. [19] Everything backfires for Jason when he subsequently discovers that Sarah has decided to reconcile with her Italian boyfriend, just as he is going to Milan to meet her. On 16 February 2009, Jason and Becky sleep together and reunite after revealing that he and Sarah are divorcing. To prove to Becky that he is serious this time, he proposes and she accepts. Unfortunately, Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) also proposes to Becky and although she initially decides to marry Jason, she realises she can not go through with it and calls off the engagement.
In June 2009, Jason sleeps with David's ex-girlfriend Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan). They start dating, however when Tina tells David the truth about her and Jason, he turns nasty and starts throwing bricks at Jason. Jason fights back and the pair have to be separated by the locals. Tina and Jason buy No. 12a Coronation Street and move in together in July 2009. Jason and Tina redecorate the flat and hold a house-warming party in September 2009 but in November, a loan shark named Rick Neelan fakes interest in buying the flat, when he is actually waiting for Tina's father, Joe (Reece Dinsdale), about the debt he owes him. Before Christmas 2009, Tina and Jason row after it is discovered that Jason is still married to Sarah. In retaliation, she shares a kiss with Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), his brother-in-law. They reconcile however, and in January 2010, when Joe and Gail go on their honeymoon, he asks Jason to look out for Tina, who is in danger from the loan sharks. On 12 February, Jason gives Tina a Valentine's Day present of his divorce papers to Sarah. Tina thinks that is her full Valentine's Day present and goes to get alcohol to celebrate. When she returns, Jason proposes to her after she has seen the ring and she accepts. However, following Joe's sudden death, Tina struggles with her grief and ends her engagement to Jason and he moves out of the flat, though he reclaims it.
On 2 April 2010, Jason gets drunk in the Rovers after Tina calls off their engagement. He later returns to the builder's yard where he is told to go home. However, when he turns to leave, Jason falls down the stairs [20] and is rendered unconscious. He is taken to the hospital where he appears to be fine, apart from losing the memory of him and Tina breaking up. Eileen, worried about what he'll do, visits Tina's house where she informs her of Jason's amnesia, but Tina doesn't believe her. Jason's memory soon returns.
Upon finding out Tina is now dating Graeme Proctor, he is angry that Tina slept with Graeme while she was with him and locks her out of the flat. Then he teams up with David (who was Graeme's best friend) to humiliate Tina and Graeme further; first by David using Graeme's clothes to mop up water (Graeme had handcuffed David to the Platts' radiator, and David then pulled it off the wall.) David then cut the hoods off Graeme's hoodies and the peaks off his caps and Jason throws binbags of Tina's clothes on top of her from the house's windows, all in front of a crowd. Satisfied, David and Jason end their partnership but remain close friends.
On 24 September 2010, Jason is recruited by a half-naked Rosie Webster to drive her in Kevin's car to Sheffield to pick up Sophie (Brooke Vincent) and her girlfriend Sian (Sacha Parkinson) after they ran away together. Immediately, there is chemistry between the pair; on 18 October, Rosie books Owen to come round and redecorate the kitchen after the oven catches fire whilst Sally and Kevin are away. On the 21st, whilst Jason is busy with the Websters' kitchen, and Rosie is looking for a cab to take her to an important modelling job, she mentions that it is 'underwear modelling', so Jason offers to be her driver. With Jason not knowing what a 'green screen' is and the male model going AWOL, Rosie volunteers Jason to step in, and the pair complete the photoshoot together; with Jason looking very pleased with himself when they get home, they sleep together. The next day, Jason thinks he has done something wrong as Rosie is evasive and not paying him for the work he did on the kitchen; she eventually pays him and he buys her a 'fake' version of the handbag that she wanted and the pair sleep together again and agree to start dating.
When the Joinery bar exploded, bringing a tram off the viaduct which smashes into the Corner Shop and The Kabin, Jason helps to rescue people who are trapped, including going into No.13 (which is in flames) to find Simon Barlow (Alex Bain). He finds him in a cupboard upstairs and they both escape, assisted by the fire brigade. Upon escaping, he is thanked gratefully by the Barlow family and praised by the residents for his courage. With Jason and Rosie living together, they start the new year looking out for Sophie and Sian as they get kicked out of the Websters. When Graeme convinces Claire to run away after she admits to the police that she attacked Tracy Barlow, Jason helps her and her sons escape and drives her to the airport, on 14 January. On 17 January, Eileen's money troubles get a lot worse, and number 11 starts crumbling around her; she seeks help from an insurance firm but when Jason spots a man lurking at the back of the house, he thinks he is trying to spy on Rosie and punches him, only to discover that he is the insurance inspector, which of course, affects the result and Eileen can not claim a penny.
On 4 February, after Rosie agrees to go to a "mother and baby" photo shoot, which "pays a fortune", they convince Kevin to let them have Jack for the day but disaster strikes when they accidentally bring home a baby girl. Jason spots this, and just as they are about to swap the babies back, Kevin walks in and demands the truth. Jason admits what happened and Kevin goes looking for his son. He finds Jack but warns Rosie to stay away, expressing his disappointment in her. Despite this, Jason is good friends with Kevin and supports him when he wins £200,000 on a scratchcard. When Kevin is almost crushed to death at the garage when his new car ramp malfunctions, Jason joins Rosie and her family at the hospital. Kevin orders Jason to call the ramp manufacturers to find the fault and threaten legal action if necessary. When it's revealed that the ramp was damaged deliberately, Jason is shocked and disgusted that someone would try to kill Kevin.
In June, Jason celebrates his 28th birthday and Becky hosts a party for him in the Rovers. However, she orders a stripper and the party turns to all-out mayhem when Chris Gray (Will Thorp) has a go at Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel). A fight breaks out and this leads to a whole pub brawl, with Jason caught in the middle, things sent flying, the brawl going onto the street and a chair smashing the window. Though Jason is shaken, he is fine. In November 2011, Rosie tells Jason that she is showing a potential buyer around their flat (which they are selling), but they are unaware that the mystery buyer is actually Rosie's ex-kidnapper, John Stape (Graeme Hawley), who has returned to kidnap Rosie as he blames her for his wife, Fiz, being imprisoned for his crimes. Rosie and Jason have a brief argument which leads to her storming off to show 'Mr Chips' around the flat. Meanwhile, Jason informs Kevin that Rosie never returned from the flat viewing and he is concerned. Jason and Kevin hear Rosie's screams and find her bound and gagged in the flat and Kevin chases after John, who then crashes his car and dies later in hospital. Jason apologises to Rosie for abandoning her and says he'll never do it again. Rosie gets an offer for a show in London however she has to be single to enter the show. She realises she has to follow her career and breaks up with Jason.
Jason rekindles his relationship with Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie) however she later shares a kiss with her gay best friend Marcus Dent (Charlie Condou), who is actually dating Aiden. They later fail to resist temptation and sleep together. The pair dump their boyfriends, Aiden and Jason. Realising they are in love, they agree to give their relationship a go. In December 2012, Jason starts a relationship with Stella Price, after repairing a water leak in the Rovers, yet she rekindles her relationship with Karl Munro (John Michie). However, Jason is convinced that Karl is responsible for starting the fire at the Rovers Return which killed Sunita Alahan. He tells Sunita's husband Dev Alahan and he initially ignores him. But, as clues build up, he begins to believe him. Just after Karl and Stella's wedding takes place, Dev locks himself in the newly built Rovers Return and he confesses to killing Dev's wife Sunita. Meanwhile, Jason is at the police station reporting Karl for murder. In the pub, Dev begins to punch Karl and he retaliates by smashing him around the head with a bottle. Stella enters through the back of the pub and finds Dev on the floor surrounded by shattered glass. Karl refuses to let her call an ambulance and locks her in the basement. The police arrive at the pub and Karl is arrested. Dev recovers quickly. Impressed by his concern for her mother Stella, Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) shares a kiss with Jason in September 2013, and they later begin a serious relationship. [21]
In 2014, Tony (Terence Maynard) turns up at the Eileen's house, wanting to rekindle his relationship with Jason. He begins a relationship with Eileen's friend, Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard), and she is angry to discover that Tony is giving Liz more attention than he is his own son. Tony, still not convinced that he is a good enough father, decides to purchase the builder's yard from Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies), who is desperately trying to pay off his £80,000 debt. When a £75,000 deal is reached, Tony signs the builder's yard over to Jason, to say sorry for not watching him grow up. He also buys the flat next door, which he rents to Andy Carver (Oliver Farnworth) and Steph Britton (Tisha Merry). Tony begins to work at the builder's yard with Jason, taking on an executive role. They later employ Jason's friend, Gary Windass (Mikey North) and Zeedan Nazir (Qasim Akhtar), as labourers. After Jason's brother, Todd, returns to Weatherfield, Tony employs him, as a secretary at the builder's yard, but he puts the company at risk, after ordering cheap materials to make a loft conversion for Jason's friend, Tyrone. Matters turn worse when Tyrone falls through the roof, breaks his ribs and sues 'Jason's Construction'. When Jason discovers what Todd has done and that Jason and Gary knew what he was up to, he fires all three of them, leaving only Zeedan working at the builder's yard and, unable to live in the same house as Todd, for what he has done, Jason moves into the flat above the kebab shop with Eva. After realising that what happened to him was not Jason's fault, Tyrone decides to accept Tony's £5,000 compensation and forgives Jason.
When Todd is disowned by Eileen, he moves into a run-down flat, but he later gets a job at Barlow's Buys, impressing Eileen, who realises that he is trying to make amends, but Jason is not convinced. Eileen agrees to lunch with Todd, at 'Nick's Bistro', but when Jason talks her out of it, Todd realises that he has been stood up and heads home. As Todd walks home, he is attacked by a gang of youths and ends up in hospital, where he discovers that his face will be scared for life. Eileen and Jason, believing that Todd truly wants to change, forgive him and he moves back in with Eileen. However, Todd vows revenge on the pair, for not turning up to lunch at the bistro, as he thinks that they are the reason that he was attacked. As time passes, Eva plans for her and Jason to buy a house, but after Jason reveals that he cannot afford it, Eva asks Tony to lend them the deposit, to which he agrees. When Tony and Eva attend an auction at a hotel, Todd lets on to Jason that they are having an affair, to which Jason goes to the hotel and punches Tony and calls Eva a 'dirty slag'. When Jason realises that he has made a mistake and that Tony and Eva were actually planning on buying a house, to surprise him, Eva dumps Jason, for not trusting her. Although he pleads for her forgiveness and even proposes to her, Eva decides to leave for France, in order to think things through, but Jason is devastated, after discovering from her sister, Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), that Eva is now happily engaged to a French man.
In August 2015, Jason stands up for Sarah against Callum Logan (Sean Ward), but the result of this leads to Jason getting beaten up by Callum and two of his goons. Jason is left in a critical condition as a result, having to receive vital surgery on a clot on his brain. He regains consciousness a week later and tells Tony and the police he thinks he heard Callum's voice. Jason spends two more weeks in hospital. In September, he gets Callum's home address from David Platt and hides in his flat. However, Denton arrives and demands money from Callum, but Jason's phone rings, alerting them to his presence. Jason punches Callum after Tony arrives to take him home.
Eva returns in September 2015 and rekindles with Jason, however she becomes upset when Jason throws her out for feeling sorry for him. In 2016, Jason found out that his father Tony had died of a heart attack. Jason blamed Liz McDonald for Tony's death, which he said that if it was not for Liz, Tony would not have left and that Tony's death would have been prevented. In May 2016, after being rejected by Eva, he took Callum's friend Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) home with him. In the coming weeks, Callum's body is found buried under Gail Rodwell's granny annex. He is initially a suspect for Callum's murder, but is ruled out when they believe the lie that it was Tony who killed him. Gemma then tells him she knows it's not his fault but he should watch his back as his dad "did it" and people will take revenge on him. His van is soon torched and he believes it is retaliation from one of Callum's friends, but it is actually his mother's partner Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre) who is pretending that it's them to scare him and take his business. Phelan tells him he should leave to which he agrees and lets him 'look after' the business, unknown that he is actually conning him; even though Todd has figured him out. Before going, he goes to say goodbye to Sarah in a mental hospital where she has been committed because of being paranoid over Callum (unbeknown to Jason, she witnessed his murder at the hands of her sister-in-law, Kylie) and being diagnosed with postpartum psychosis. He goes back home and says an emotional farewell to Todd, Eileen and Sean before going to Thailand.
In 2020, it was mentioned that Jason was self-isolating off-screen in Thailand, after coming into contact with someone with COVID-19.
