Coronation Street star Channique Sterling-Brown, 28, who plays Dee Dee Bailey, has quit the soap after just three years. The star will film her final scenes later this month, although she will be seen on screens until the end of the year. A source told Express.co.uk : “Posters are up around the Corrie set behind the scenes, it is common knowledge that Channique is going, and cast have been informed.” The star is believed to be leaving to explore opportunities outside of the soap.

She is the latest cast member to exit the show,following in the footsteps of others who have already gone over the last 12 months. Charlotte Jordan (Daisy Midgeley), Colson Smith (Craig Tinker), Sally-Ann Matthews (Jenny Connor), Sue Cleaver (Eileen Grimshaw) and Shelley King (Yasmeen Nazir). Daniel Brocklebank who has played Billy Mayhew for the past 11 years is also leaving the soap later this year, along with Sue Devaney (Debbie Webster) whose character has been diagnosed with dementia.

When contacted by Express ITV declined to comment. Express has also reached out to representatives for Channique Sterling-Brown.

Coronation Street was Channique’s first TV job having lost out on the part of Naomi Walters to Karene Peter in ITV’s other long running soap Emmerdale.

Within six months of her first appearance on screen she won the 2023 British Soap Award for Best Newcomer. She also won Best Newcomer at the Inside Soap Awards that year and was nominated in the Rising Star category at the 28th National Television Awards.

Since joining the show she has been at the centre of some huge storylines. Her character’s close friendship with Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) saw her play an integral part in his MND storyline when she was the first person she told about his diagnosis.

Most famously Dee Dee was engaged to fellow solicitor Joel Deering (Callum Lil). He turned out to have groomed teenager Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) who then disappeared.

The news comes after Sally Ann’s character Jenny Bradley left the soap on October 1 after 39 years in emotional scenes, with the ITV veteran deciding to start a new life in Tenerife.

While some fans were disappointed with the low-key exit for such a beloved character, Sally Ann spoke out on Instagram, saying:

“I know people have said, because I’ve seen it already today on Twitter, people going: ‘Oh she should have had a bigger exit.’

She insisted: “I loved Jenny’s exit”, and expressed her desire for it to be ‘low-key’. Sally-Ann continued: “Yeah, yeah, completely. And it’s also, they don’t do exit stories anymore, unless you’re going to die.

“All the audience research, apparently, so I’ve been told, is that if they know that a character is leaving – the audience, then they don’t invest in the storyline. So unless they’re going to kill you, you don’t get one, because they just go: ‘We know she’s leaving.'”

“So that’s why pretty much everybody, I think it was the same with Shelley [King, who played Yasmeen Nazir], it was pretty much the same with Sue [Cleaver, who played Eileen Grimshaw].

“Well, ultimately the thing of just starting again in pastures new, you know, it’s like everyone emigrates within 24 hours, and I think I emigrated within about an hour!”