Meanwhile, Carl bonds with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) over feeling like they're bad parents for abandoning their children and tells her about Paul's death. They start dating but the relationship is rocky and during one break, Carl has a one-night stand with Chloe Atkinson (Amy Nuttall). When she finds out Carl and Chas are back together, she decides to split them up permanently. She starts a campaign of poison pen letters and undermines Chas's trust in Carl, succeeding in her aim so he reconciles with Chloe but soon tires of her and tries to end it. Not wanting to let him go, she tells him she's pregnant, despite the fact that she isn't and starts trying to get pregnant before Carl discovers the truth. Chas discovers Chloe's lie and forces her to tell Carl the truth, that she isn't pregnant and never was. Before leaving the village, she reminds Carl that she could be pregnant as they weren't taking precautions. Horrified at his mistake, Carl tries to reconcile with Chas but she is not interested and leaves to join the army so Carl starts dating her cousin, Del Dingle (Hayley Tamaddon). Realising that Carl wanted Chas, not her, Del encourages him to fight for Chas so he tracks her down and declares his feelings, accidentally dropping her after picking her up and breaking her leg. Consequently, Chas is discharged on medical grounds and reconciles with Carl and he proposes marriage but Chas refuses, until he does a wing walk to conquer his vertigo. They move into Home Farm with his father Tom (Ken Farrington) and Chas becomes Jimmy's personal assistant.