Ellie Leach and Coronation Street fans can be relieved – Faye Windass’ return to Weatherfield is not out of the question.
Speaking to Ranvir Singh on Lorraine this Friday, May 24, the actress teased her latest role as Miss Scarlett in Cluedo, a stage production written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran which is based on the famous Hasbro game.
However, the Strictly winner inevitably faced a question about her ever returning to the Weatherfield cobbles as the soap has welcomed back fellow Corrie legend Bethany Platt, played by Lucy Fallon, earlier this year. Ellie quickly responded: “never say never.”
The actress, 23, has insisted that, before her return can be confirmed, she will continue to focus on new projects worlds away from the cobbles, where soap viewers have watched her grow up. “But I was there and now I’m doing something completely and that is what life is about trying new things”, she added.
While she dubbed her years on Coronation Street “something that I will always take with me for the rest of my life”, Ellie also admitted that her stint in BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing has allowed her to venture outside of her “comfort zone”, with her win inspiring her to make a change in her professional life.
Ellie was first cast as Anna and Eddie Windass’ adoptive daughter Faye in 2011, after kicking off her career in the film A Boy Called Dad and in an episode of Moving On. Throughout her 12 years on the Manchester-based drama, she was involved in a plethora of drama-packed storylines, including a hard-hitting teen pregnancy plot which saw her give birth to her daughter Miley.
Her biggest storylines also include a sexual assault plot during which she was taken advantage of by villainous entrepreneur Ray Crosby. She was sent to prison after attacking Adam Barlow, whom she had mistaken for her attacker in the Bistro.
In early 2022, just as she was getting back to a normal life following her release from behind bars, Faye and Emma Brooker were both involved in another storyline which saw pensioner Ted die after the pair had run him over as they were returning home from a boozy New Year’s Eve party.
Faye Windass’ story came full circle in 2023, when she was eventually given the chance to bond with her daughter, who had been taken to Canada by her father, Jackson, and his family as a baby. The beloved character waved the cobbles and partner Craig Tinker goodbye in May 2023.
Since she bowed out, as mentioned, Ellie won the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing alongside professional partner Vito Coppola. She also stars in the ITVBe series Drama Queens with a handful of leading soap ladies.
