Corrie icon Julie quits after 15 years as Hayley

Corrie icon Julie quits after 15 years as Hayley
Corrie icon Julie quits after 15 years as Hayley (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Long-serving Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh is leaving the soap after 15 years as TV favourite Hayley Cropper. The Lancashire-born actress, 42, admitted she has had 'the most wonderful time' playing the Street's first transsexual on the ITV1 show, but wanted to pursue new projects after starring in the play, Black Roses: The Killing Of Sophie Lancaster, at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester last year. "I've had the most wonderful and happy time in the life-changing 15-16 years I've been in Corrie, and I owe so much to the show and the special team that make it happen," she said. "The decision to hang up Hayley's red anorak was a tough one, but doing the play at the Royal Exchange last year made me realise that there's life in the old dog yet (!) and that there are other things I want to try." She added: "Whatever happens next I'll always be proudest of lovely Mrs Cropper and in particular what we achieved in changing attitudes to transgender and in portraying possibly the most loving, faithful and steadfast couple in soap history! I'll always be the show's biggest fan." Julie, who joined the soap in 1998, will fulfil the rest of her contract until the end of 2013. Coronation Street bosses are now working on storylines to ensure a 'dramatic exit' for such a beloved character. Executive producer Kieran Roberts said: "Who doesn't love Hayley Cropper? The character's warmth and decency, spiced with a great sense of fun and adventure, have put her at the heart of Coronation Street. "The enduring popularity of and affection for Hayley - and of course her wonderful partnership with Roy - has so much to do with the brilliant way Julie Hesmondhalgh has brought the character to life on screen for the past 15 years. "We'll be sorry to say farewell to Hayley - and to Julie - but we're planning a screen exit worthy of one of Coronation Street's best-loved characters."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.