Sue Cleaver contemplated Coronation Street exit for four years
Sue Cleaver has revealed that she had been planning her departure from 'Coronation Street' for several years as she seeks "new adventures" away from the ITV soap after 25 years as Eileen Grimshaw.
Sue Cleaver has been planning her departure from 'Coronation Street' for the past four years.
The 61-year-old actress is set to bow out as Eileen Grimshaw on the ITV soap after a quarter of a century in the coming weeks and felt it was the right time to leave the cobbles behind and travel down a "new path".
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Sue said: "I'm at a stage where I thought it was important to forge a new path for myself.
"It had been in my mind for the last four years to leave. It's exciting times. I'm not scared about the future. The only scary thing was making the decision."
Sue's alter ego Eileen isn't being killed off by 'Corrie' bosses and she explained that art will imitate life as her character seeks "new adventures" after becoming disillusioned with life in Weatherfield.
She said: "There was always the risk that they might have killed me off, but they said, 'Eileen's a big part of the show.'
"Basically, the journey Eileen is taking is pretty much what I'm choosing to do – it's new adventures.
"Just because you're a certain age, it doesn't mean you have to stop, that your chances in life are finished, that you're stuck and that you're heading to your ageing days."
Eileen has been an integral part of the soap for the past 25 years and Sue believes that the character was so successful because everybody could "relate" to the Street Cars employee.
The 'Loose Women' panellist said: "She was cocky, but she had a very big heart.
"She was every woman. Everybody knows an Eileen. Everybody has an Eileen living on their street and I think a lot of women could relate to her.
"She brought her boys up single-handedly, she'd been treated badly by men, she was a worrier, she was independent..."
Eileen has never been shy to show her fiery temper but Sue admits that she has pushed the aggression too far at times.
She joked: "I'm told there have been 19 slaps – most were for her son, Jason – and a few punches.
"I remember Eileen once hit Steve McDonald and I nearly knocked (actor) Simon Gregson out.
"They said, 'Slap him'. So I slapped him and he was seeing stars."
Cleaver added: "There was another scene with Simon and Craig Charles (who played Lloyd Mullaney), where I had to bang their heads together. I got it a bit wrong and actually did it. You could just hear this loud crack."
