Sue Cleaver, who has played Eileen Grimshaw in Coronation Street for 25 years, resigned from the role earlier this year. She has now revealed whether or not she will ever make an appearance on a competing soap.
Former Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver has revealed if she will ever appear on a rival soap following her final appearance as Eileen Grimshaw airing earlier this month. The 61-year-old actress announced her decision to bid farewell to Weatherfield at the start of this year, after an impressive 25 years on the ITV soap.
She stated in a heartfelt statement at the time, “I’ve worked on Coronation Street for 25 privileged years,” adding that “The door is still firmly open but as I grew older, I decided it was time to embrace change, look for new adventures, and live fearlessly.”
Sue hasn’t been idle during her tenure on the Street – she took a hiatus to tread the boards as Mother Superior in Sister Act before gracing our screens as a panellist on ITV’s Loose Women in 2024.
She also enjoyed a stint on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Back in 2022. But now she has the time to commit to other projects, will Sue be popping up on a rival soap like Coronation Street or EastEnders?
Actors frequently appear in multiple soap universes, including Michelle Collins and Denise Welch, and on Coronation Street and EastEnders.
Sue, who spoke in a new interview, describes her Corrie legacy as “chuffed” and says she thinks she received “a wonderful send off,” but says she is willing to “live fearlessly.”
The actress remarkes, “I think people forget that courage is a muscle, courage is a muscle, start really small, put yourself out of your comfort zone for a few minutes a day, inquire about a book club or evening class, because that muscle really does,” adding that.
Sue continues to recall to The Sun how filming her final scenes “was really weird feeling, but it felt right” and it was “the right time” to go. She is now ready to take advantage of her new found “freedom” after spending over two decades at ITV.
“I love doing Loose Women, there are other things I want to do and there is a lot more of the world I want to see,” Sue admits. But when it comes to going over to the dark side and popping into The Queen Vic or the Woolpack, Sue is adamant that she is still loyal to Corrie.
She says she is “very committed to Corrie” and won’t be appearing on another soap “at this point,” adding: “I’ve been incredibly fortunate and it gave me the opportunity that not many actresses have, to be at home, to be there for my son in the morning, to put him to bed at night, and to have a proper home life, whereas you typically have to go where the work is. It’s not lost on me how fortunate I’ve been; it holds a special place in my heart. “I’ve been very fortunate.
Speaking to the Mirror in May, Sue opened up on her decision to have co-star Ryan Thomas return for her final episodes, as his character Eileen’s son Jason Grimshaw makes a huge offer. Sue shared: “Ryan was there from the start, and he was inconveniently living in Thailand, and it wouldn’t be too far of a jump to expect that if Eileen was going to make a leap, that she would involve her son.
And so when I made the decision to leave, about a year ago, I called Ryan and said, “Ryan, I’m going to tell them that I’m going, and if they ask me about exits, I’d really like to say that you’d come back and take me out, but I don’t know whether they’d go for it.”
He then said, “Oh my gosh, of course I would,” which was lovely for me. And it was wonderful to have him back and film those final scenes with him. I just felt like I was actually coming a long way back.
On ITV1 and ITV X, Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8 p.m.
Source: Mirror
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