Coronation Street’s Craig Tinker will be joined by a familiar face on the cobbles next week, as a former star returns to the soap ahead of his exit.
Actor Colson Smith announced his departure as local copper Craig after 14 years, revealing that he’d known for a while that this was set to be his final contract.
It was later reported that his character’s exit storyline would result in his heroic death.
Ahead of his final scenes, it has now been revealed that Craig’s police colleague PC Jess Haywood will be returning, as actress Donnaleigh Bailey reprises her role.
The character, who was introduced as a mentor to Craig when he joined the force, was last seen two years ago after appearing intermittently since 2017.
Donnaleigh, who is also known for her role as Michelle Corrigan in BBC soap Doctors from 2006 to 2010, is on the cast list for next week’s episodes.
Spoilers have revealed that PC Haywood will share scenes with Craig and fellow locals Hope Dobbs (Isabella Flanagan) and Jack Webster (Kyran Bowes).
Colson has played Craig for 14 years, after joining the soap at just 12 years old, and has had some huge stories in that time, including an OCD diagnosis and an ill-fated relationship with Faye Windass (Ellie Leach).
Earlier this week, Colson revealed he had finished filming on Corrie with a post on Instagram.
Sharing a picture of himself sat above the Rovers Return sign, he wrote: ‘CORONATION STREET I LOVE YOU, THANK YOU.’
However, eagle-eyed fans also noticed his photo contained a huge spoiler about the future of the iconic boozer.
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 or stream first from 7am on ITVX.
