Actress Sue Cleaver is set to leave Coronation Street after 25 years, it has been confirmed. The star, 61, has played the outspoken Eileen Grimshaw in the ITV show since 2000. Shortly after her first appearance on screens, Eileen was employed to work at the taxi firm, StreetCars, which was run by Vikram Desai (Chris Bisson) and Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). She accepted the job offer to provide for her two tearaway teenage children, Jason (Ryan Thomas) and Todd (Bruno Langley). Eileen went on to feature in some of the show’s most famous storylines, including Todd coming out as Corrie’s first-ever gay character. Speaking about her time on the cobbles, Sue said: ‘I’ve had 25 privileged years of working on Coronation Street.’

Thankfully for viewers, bosses shan’t be killing her off but are instead hopeful she’ll return one day. ‘The door is still firmly open, but as I reached my 60th year, I decided it was time to embrace change, look for new adventures, and live fearlessly,’ Sue added. It is understood that she made the decision in the summer, after her appearance in the Sister Act musical tour. She returned to the stage for the first time in about three decades. Sue will bow out later this year as her exit storyline airs in spring. Producer Kate Brooks said: ‘We’re sad to bid farewell to the wonderful Sue Cleaver. ‘Over the past 25 years, Eileen Grimshaw has been at the heart of some of the most memorable and iconic Corrie storylines, and her onscreen rivalry with Gail Platt will undoubtedly go down in Corrie folklore. ‘There’s certainly no one quite like Eileen, and her character will be hugely missed on the cobbles.

We wish Sue all the very best as she embarks on her next exciting chapter.’ Some of Eileen’s most iconic moments have included her street fight with Gail Rodwell (Helen Worth), who also left the show recently. ‘Twas certainly an emotional Christmas in Weatherfield when fellow legend Helen said farewell after 50 years. In her exit storyline, Gail swapped the street for a new life in France after she finally got her happy ending by marrying Jesse Chadwick, played by John Thomson. Eileen and Gail began their feud following relationship issues between Gail’s daughter Sarah (Tina O’Brien) and Eileen’s son Todd, which culminated in the two mothers fighting on the doorstep. The pair rolled on the ground, pulled one another’s hair, and hurled abuse until they were dragged apart in a big TV moment. It was the culmination of a storyline in which Todd struggled with coming to terms with his sexuality, had a relationship with nurse Karl Foster, and eventually came out in a pivotal moment for British soap.

Similar to Gail, Eileen has been unlucky in relationships and had flings with Dennis Stringer (Charles Dale), Ed Jackson (Chris Walker), Michael Rodwell (Les Dennis), and Jerry Morton (Michael Starke). Sue won best soap actress gongs at the TV Choice Awards in 2007 and the British Soap Awards in 2006. She also took part in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2022, where she opened up about reconciling with her birth mother, and was eliminated third. The TV legend also said her family is ‘bizarrely interconnected’ to other Coronation Street stars, including Gail’s Helen, who is godmother to one of her half-sisters, and the other half-sister’s husband, John Bowe, who appeared on the cobbles as Duggie Ferguson. In 2024, she released the book A Work In Progress, in which she discusses how she still feels she is not past her prime, and she has appeared as a panellist in recent years on the ITV chat show Loose Women.