Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street aired an emotional farewell for Summer Spellman in Wednesday’s episode (March 27) as she decided to follow her dream of studying in the US.
The teenager said her goodbyes to her three dads Billy Mayhew, Paul Foreman and Todd Grimshaw after being accepted for a temporary transfer to a university in Boston.
Summer applied for the exciting opportunity some time ago, but had been torn over whether to go as Paul continues to struggle with the rapid progression of his Motor Neuron Disease (MND).
The student’s dilemma came to a head in recent days as Billy told her that Paul is planning to ultimately end his life on his own terms.
Summer also worried about how Paul might react when his speech therapist advised that he could no longer eat solid food due to the risk of choking.
Although Summer initially insisted that she couldn’t possibly leave when Paul needs support, he encouraged her to put herself first and promised that he’d still be waiting for her upon her return.
As Digital Spy revealed when spoilers for Summer’s ‘exit’ storyline first went live last week, this isn’t a permanent departure for the character.
Summer will be absent for the duration of her study time but is expected to return later in the summer.
Harriet Bibby, who plays Summer, recently confirmed that she has no plans to leave the show.
Speaking to The Lincolnite newspaper earlier this year, Harriet commented: “I am fully invested in Corrie and have not done any other acting bits.
“I don’t have any solid plans to leave the show, but there is always something in the back of my head that I would love to do more theatre work.
“I teach singing, so feed into my love of theatre through that.”