Ellie Leach 'crying' as she responds to Coronation Street star's exit two years after she quit

The Strictly winner responded to her former Coronation Street's co-star's own exit from the long-running show after she quit two years ago

Ellie Leach admitted to being emotional as she responded to her former Coronation Street's co-star's own exit from the long-running show after she quit two years ago.

The actress is best known for playing Faye Windass in the ITV soap. She bowed out of the programme in the May of 2023 before later signing up to Strictly Come Dancing.

The rest, as they say, is history as Ellie ended up winning the BBC One dance contest, lifting the coveted Glitterball trophy alongside her professional dance partner Vito Coppola.

One of those to support her while she was on the hit dance show was Colson Smith and Ellie was quick to support him as he became the latest actor to leave Corrie behind.

The actor has fallen short of marking 14 years in the ITV soap, having joined back in the summer of 2011 as Craig Tinker. He filmed the last of his scenes on Friday (March 21) before hosting a leaving party in Manchester.

At the end of last week that Colson revealed he had headed to Corrie's Trafford-based set to film for the final time, with rumours hinting that his exit storyline will mark a permanent end to Craig.

On Friday morning, he shared a picture from his car that showed the ITV building in front of him. The soap star could be seen listening to the Macy Gray track 'I Try' as he captioned the post: "The Last Dance," with a hand making a heart emojis and an orange heart icon.

Later, Colson returned to Instagram with a snap in which he could be sitting above the iconic Rovers Return sign. Alongside the post, the 26-year-old simply issued a seven-word message which read: "CORONATION STREET I LOVE YOU, THANK YOU."

Former on-screen girlfriend Ellie was among those to respond to the post as she said: "sooooo proud of you [red heart emoji]." She also shared the post to her own Instagram Story and said: "Crying," before adding a face holding back tears emoji.

Colson surprised fans at the start of the year as he told how ITV soap chiefs had decided to get rid of his character Craig. Colson has grown up alongside his character on-screen, having first appeared in Weatherfield as the son of Beth Tinker as a youngster.

It was at the start of the year that Colson confirmed his time as his policing alter-ego is coming to an end. He shared the news in a social media statement.

In the post, shared to X and Instagram alongside a picture of himself portraying Craig as a police officer, which confirmed the news, Colson said at the time: "Autumn last year I was told that Craig Tinker's time on the Cobbles is to come to end in 2025.

"I've loved every single second of my 14 year stay as a resident on the greatest street in the world. I feel incredibly lucky to have grown up in, on and around Coronation Street. I've learned pretty much everything about life from the people who call it home. I'm excited to play out the exit story for Our Craigy."

The 26-year-old added: "For Me, this is just the end of the beginning. I genuinely can’t wait to see what chapter 2 has in store for me. LONG LIVE THE COBBLES!"