Coronation Street boss confirms character has been secretly AXED and familiar faces return ahead
CORONATION Street’s top boss has revealed the “sacrifice” of a much-loved soap character in a telling comment ahead of the upcoming anniversary episode.
Iain McLeod admitted: “Sometimes the biggest and best exits are for characters that you care the most about,” as he teased the detail of the impending doom for one star.
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Coronation Street fans are no doubt already attempting to suss out the Cobbles resident in question after his stark words – which come just months before the crossover show with fellow ITV soap Emmerdale.
He told MirrorOnline: “The soap gods demand a sacrifice when you have an event of this kind.
“It’s going to be shocking. There will be lots of trauma, lots of drama, lots of twists.
“Sometimes the biggest and best exits are for characters that you care the most about.
“There’s always that equation where you think, ‘If they were to go, the viewers will really care, but what damage will it do to the landscape of the show in terms of the ability to tell stories?”
It comes after a host of famous faces have either been axed or walked during the past 12 months on the show.
These include Harry Lowbridge, who sensationally quit after a year on the show, as well as Adam Hussain.
Sally Ann Matthews was also axed from her role of Jenny Bradley after 39 years.
Prior to the confirmation of her booting, it was revealed that soap chiefs had also axed Daniel Brocklebank from his role of Billy Mayhew.
The soap has been rocked by exits over the last 12 months with Sue Devaney (Debbie Webster), Shelley King (Yasmeen Metcalfe), Paddy Bever (Max Turner), Colson Smith (PC Craig Tinker) and Luca Toolan (Mason Radcliffe) also axed from their roles.
Coronation Street actress looks totally different from Weatherfield 15 years on from leaving the ITV soap & cast fallout
Helen Worth (Gail Platt), Sue Cleaver (Eileen Grimshaw) and Charlotte Jordan (Daisy Midgeley) also all chose to quit their roles on the show.
HUGE COMEBACK
Meanwhile, some much-loved screen stars from Corrie’s past are set for a second stint in Weathefield.
Iain told the same publication a “few faces” would return and said: “All of it is feeding into this crossover episode we are doing in January.
“It’s going to get bigger and bigger.
Coronation Street’s 2024 shock exits
Corrie has said goodbye to several cast members this year. Let’s break down who’s left the famous soap:
Eliza Woodrow (Savannah Kunyo) has said farewell to Corrie to start a new life in Germany.
The youngster moved to live with her dad Dom Everett, who went back on the £10,000 bribe Eliza’s grandfather Stu had offered to keep him out of her life.
Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) will bow out of the soap this summer when he loses his fight with motor neurone disease (MND) in tragic scenes.
After being diagnosed last year, the fan favourite was devastated to learn he only had months left to live.
Viewers know he is planning to take his own life to end his suffering.
Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby) departed the cobbles after being offered the opportunity of a lifetime to study in America.
Though she struggled to decide with her stepdad Paul’s impending death from MND, she was convinced she had to live her life to the full.
Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) has struggled with the sudden departure of his father Peter from the cobbles.
The Weatherfield legend left his family and loved ones behind on Boxing Day, 2023, when his wife Carla Connor encouraged him to travel around the world with a friend.
Simon’s been on a downward spiral ever since and his exit could end in tragedy.
Alya Nazir is set to leave the cobbles as actress Sair Khan prepares to go on maternity leave ahead of the birth of her first child.
It looks likely she’ll be heading to Dublin after securing a lucrative new job, leaving her colleague and fling Adam Barlow behind.
Show stalwart Sue Cleaver, who plays Eileen Grimshaw, is taking a break to star in the Sister Act The Musical UK tour. She will be back filming in May once her dates on the tour come to an end.
Her character left the Street after her son Jason broke his back after falling off a moped in Asia.
“Things will peak in a big way.”
SOAP SWITCH
Back in May, we reported how Corrie and Emmerdale would join forces for a crossover episode in a UK soap first.
The soaps will be side-by-side for an unmissable stunt that will have consequences for the residents of both the Dales and Weatherfield.
The show, which will be broadcast in January 2026, teases that characters from both shows will depart and exciting new faces will join as the cast from each of the long-running ITV programmes come face-to-face for the first time.
The hour-long episode is to mark the start of the new ‘soap power hour’ – a schedule change taking hold from early next year.
Emmerdale and Corrie will each broadcast a 30-minute episode every-day back-to-back as part of the new programming changes with the huge stunt set to kickstart it all.
ITV tease that the one-off mash-up will have “everlasting consequences for everyone involved” and will rock Weatherfield and the Dales forever.
Both shows producers, scriptwriters and production teams have worked together to create the record-breaking episode with the impact then being felt as both programmes return to their own hubs for months to come.
Bosses from both shows also say that while the soaps will only be seen on-screen together for the one episode, the communities will be forever linked as a result of the as-yet undisclosed stunt.
There will also be an interactive twist for fans to determine one part of the episode.
A vote will be opened allowing soap fans to choose which Emmerdale and Coronation Street character will share a carefully-written scene together as part of the episode.
Meanwhile, we exclusively reported how soap bosses from across the Pennines have gone to extreme lengths to avoid leaks about the plotline.
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