Coronation Street and Emmerdale boss John Whiston is leaving ITV after nearly 30 years
'Coronation Street' and 'Emmerdale' chief John Whiston has announced his retirement from ITV after 27 years with the network.
'Coronation Street' and 'Emmerdale' boss John Whiston has quit ITV after almost 30 years.
The television veteran has announced his retirement from the channel after 27 years – where he has overseen epic live episodes and shaped storylines that have attracted millions of viewers to two of the UK's biggest soap operas.
Whiston said in a statement: "I've always said I've got the best job in TV. I used to say it privately in case ITV stopped paying me.
"It has been nothing short of an honour, as well as a blast, to work on the soaps this last decade or so. We've had joy, we've had fun and we've had seasons in the Sun.
"We've also had misery and mayhem. We've had motorway crashes, tram crashes and floods. We've had stories which have squeezed your heart till tears came out of your eyes.
"And we've covered pretty much anything and everything that people have to face in their own lives and we've done that with care and humanity.
"And all that is down to the 600 or so people – the writers, crew, cast and editorial – who have kept the show on air and at an incredible quality day in day out. And it's them who have made my job ridiculously easy. Just don't tell ITV."
Whiston will step down at the end of May and will be replaced by Iain MacLeod as Creative Director and Matt Cleary as Chief Operating Officer.
He continued: "With fantastic stories in place for the move to five episodes a week next January, and a never-before-seen mega mash-up between the two shows, the future for our ITV Soaps is set fair.
"So it's the right time to leave and for me just to say thank you... to colleagues, to ITV and to our loyal, appreciative audience."
ITV chief Kevin Lygo was among those paying tribute to Whiston, who has enjoyed a career in the industry spanning more than 40 years.
The channel's Managing Director, Media and Entertainment, said: "John has been a stalwart of ITV, the North, and the soaps for a very long time. His fingerprints are all over 'Coronation Street' and 'Emmerdale' and they are all the better for it.
"Every twist and turn of the plotlines have had input from John and he will be sorely missed by all that have worked with him. ITV and I have been very fortunate to work with such a wonderful man. We wish him well in the next episode of his life."
