Strictly's Ellie Leach admitted it was a 'crazy situation' after Corrie 'axe'

25 August 2023 , 08:24

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Strictly's Ellie Leach admitted it was a 'crazy situation' after Corrie 'axe'

Strictly Come Dancing star Ellie Leach admitted it was a "scary" and "crazy situation" when discussing her Coronation Street exit earlier this year.

Ellie's final scenes on the ITV soap aired on May 24, with the actress, 22, thought at the time to have quit her role of Faye Windass after 12 years playing the former Weatherfield resident. However, it's since been claimed Ellie was "left with no choice" but to resign, after bosses made it clear there was no future for her character on the soap.

Speaking at the Pride of Manchester Awards in May, just days before her Coronation Street exit was officially announced by ITV bosses, Ellie admitted leaving the soap was "scary" and revealed her plans for the future after playing Faye since she was just nine-years-old.

"It is scary but I think it's just a crazy situation," Ellie confessed speaking to the Mirror on the red carpet. "It's always going to be scary leaving somewhere that you've been for a long, long time, but I also think with risk comes reward. So as much as it will be sad, you can't live in that fear."

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The new Strictly star continued: "To be honest, I've been working since I was nine-years-old so I'm going to go on holiday for a little bit. I think I'm going to do a little bit of a holiday and just do a little bit of travelling." Ellie went on to confirm she wants to continuing acting after Corrie, adding: "I don't have a particular dream role but I love the leading women roles in a rom-com, or like a rom-com series. I'm literally rom-com obsessed."

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Ellie, who joined the cast of the ITV soap in 2011, confirmed Faye's departure from the cobbled streets of Weatherfield later the same month, telling her fans on Instagram: "Just want to say a massive, massive thank you to everyone who has watched Corrie over the past 12 years and supported me. And also to my Corrie family, I am going to miss you all so much. And yeah just thank you so much to everyone who has always said nice words and really supported me."

While Ellie's Corrie exit is officially seen as the actress resigning, it's since been reported the 22-year-old felt forced to quit her role as Faye after it "was made clear to her earlier this year they didn’t see a future for her character so she was left with no choice." According to The Sun, Ellie's former cast-mates are planning to do "all they can to get Ellie to the final of Strictly as a 'f*** you' to bosses."

Ellie was announced as the tenth contestant taking part in the 2023 series of Strictly Come Dancing earlier this month, with the new revealed live on BBC Breakfast on August 9. Ellie, whose cousin is fellow former Corrie star Brooke Vincent, said on the show: "It still doesn’t feel real that I’m going to be doing Strictly!! It’s always been a dream of mine so I guess dreams really do come true!!!!"

The soap star added on BBC Breakfast that she was starting to get "nervous" now as the competition start date nears. She confessed: "I'm so excited, I'm getting a bit nervous now it's getting nearer to the time, but yeah, so excited!" The star added that she has known about Strictly for ages but had kept it a secret, only telling her family the news, she quipped: "I'm the type of person if someone says: 'Don't say anything!', I'm like: 'Okay!' I'm so trustworthy!"

Zoe Delaney