Why everyone left Coronation Street this year
The show's 2023 exits explained.
Whether it's cast members wanting to move on to new challenges, or storylines reaching a natural end, every year sees a handful of characters bow out and 2023 has been no exception.
Here, we look back at the most significant departures of the year so far and why each of the exits came about.
1. Jack James Ryan (Jacob Hay)
2023 kicked off with a very surprising departure, as Jack James Ryan chose to leave his role as fan favourite Jacob Hay. Jacob was run out of town shortly after the arrival of his villainous father Damon, who unfairly blamed him for messing up a £50,000 drugs delivery at the Bistro.
In real life, Jack made the bold decision to leave Corrie even though show bosses had long-term plans for his character in mind.
"It was a really hard decision, because I love the character so much. But I was coming up to that two-year mark on the show and the conversations upstairs were very much about looking at the long haul of what Jacob was going to do and who he was going to be on the Street with.
"Of course, that was incredibly humbling. Those types of conversation are just amazing. But I'm still young and there's so much stuff that I want to go and do. I felt, in a way, that I'd come and done what I intended to do."
2. Grant Burgin (Teddy Thompkins)
Grant Burgin was only ever a guest cast member on Coronation Street, which possibly made his character Teddy Thompkins an easy choice when the show's bosses worked out who should be the second victim of the Stephen Reid serial killer saga.
Stephen killed Teddy in January after the worried father discovered the awful truth about the death of his son Leo.
Teddy made a final appearance in March as a hallucination as Stephen's guilty conscience appeared to be catching up with him while he was high on LSD.
3. Michael Condron (Griff Reynolds)
Michael Condron did a brilliant job of playing far-right gang leader Griff Reynolds, but it was no surprise to see him leave the show when the issue-based plot came to an end earlier this year.
The nature of Griff's story meant that he was never intended as a long-term character, so Corrie's storyliners made sure that he was sent to prison for his crimes in early January.
Griff was last seen in February, when he made a final appearance in some jail-based scenes with Spider Nugent.
4. Twana Omer (Daryan Zahawi)
Twana Omer played the role of Daryan Zahawi for a five-month stint, which saw the character have a central role in some major storylines with Maria Connor, Gary Windass and Max Turner.
In February this year, Daryan's time on the show came to an end when he left Weatherfield to go looking for his brother in Nottingham.
Twana didn't release an exit statement at the time, so it's not totally clear whether it was his choice to go, but everything turned out well either way as he quickly landed an exciting role in a Broadway stage play.
5. Steven Meo (Rufus Donahue)
Steven Meo was another guest cast member on Coronation Street who had a memorable ending as part of Stephen Reid's serial killer storyline.
Rufus appeared in the show on and off from February this year, causing many problems for Stephen along the way. He made his final appearance in April when Stephen finally lost patience and brutally killed his business rival.
As Rufus was never a long-term character, no exit statement was released after his final scenes aired, but it seems safe to assume that he was always brought in for a finite stint to serve the Stephen saga.
6. Ellie Leach (Faye Windass)
Ellie Leach's departure from the role of Faye Windass was revealed in tabloid reports in early April, with Street sources suggesting that she was keen to move on and pursue other roles after 12 years on the cobbles.
Faye's exit aired the following month, as she left Weatherfield to move to Slough with her daughter Miley and the youngster's father Jackson Hodge.
This meant that Faye had to say a heartbreaking goodbye to her boyfriend Craig Tinker as their relationship came to an end.
"It's hard for Faye because it's a question of – do you go with your head or heart?
"It was just so, so emotional. You see there are two people here who do love each other, but there are so many other factors. Love isn't always enough, and you can definitely see that in the final scene."
7. Andrew Still (Justin Rutherford)
Andrew Still's departure from the role of Justin Rutherford was another inevitable exit due to the nature of his storyline.
The character of Justin was brought into the show for the Daisy Midgeley stalking plot, which culminated in the award-winning acid attack scenes.
Justin was never going to be a long-term player once the storyline was over, and fans were relieved when he received a prison sentence for what he'd done to Daisy and Ryan Connor.
Backing the decision to give his character this punishment, Andrew : "When I have been a viewer of a show and watched a character do terrible things, I can't help but hope that it's going to come back to bite them and I think that Justin certainly deserves justice to be served, because what he has done has been horrendous.
"I definitely think he should get his comeuppance."
8. James Craven (Aaron Sandford)
Completing a trio of villains on our list, Aaron Sandford left Corrie this year as his consent storyline with Amy Barlow reached its conclusion.
Aaron left the cobbles in disgrace after a final conversation with Amy, in which he subtly acknowledged that he'd raped her months earlier. He'd previously made repeated denials over his crime.
James Craven, who played Aaron, always knew that his character couldn't stick around once the story was over.
"It's obviously very sad, it's been a lot of fun and I've really, really loved my time there. I met so many great people and I've made so many good friends for life. But I'm excited – I'm really, really excited to get on and go on and do other things.
"There's a couple of things I've got coming out but I can't really say too much at the moment."
9. Martin Hancock (Spider Nugent)
Martin Hancock waved goodbye to Coronation Street again this week. As he'd been back on screen since July 2022, his departure appeared to come at the end of a year-long contract.
In his recent exit chat, Martin didn't specify whether it was his choice to leave or whether the producers wrote him out, but he did confirm that he'd be willing to return again if show bosses asked him back.
"I said it the first time I left, then the second time round, third time round and this is the fourth time round. I love the show. It'd be nice for a Spider and Toyah wedding to happen at some point."
On his future, he added: "I can't tell you! As people always say, 'I've got a few things in the pipeline!' If they happen, they happen – if they don't, they don't. Otherwise, I'll just go back to what I was doing before – just cropping up every now and again in reasonably good films."
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