Coronation Street fan favourite Eileen Grimshaw is set to leave the cobbles in upcoming scenes on the ITV soap after actress Sue Cleaver signed up for I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! 2022.
Eileen’s exit storyline was unveiled in the soap’s hour-long Christmas Day special episode, which saw the residents of Weatherfield celebrating the festive season.
In the episode, Eileen was once again disappointed on the big day as she was given an unpleasant surprise gift.
After Eileen's partner George Shuttleworth wanted to treat her to a bespoke funeral package last year, the pressure was on for him to impress her with something a tad less morbid this year.
However, George’s plans to buy Eileen a new sofa were botched when he realised he had inadvertently purchased a miniature model sofa fit for a dollhouse, a supposed to the real deal.
George was desperate to salvage the situation on Christmas Day as he tried to convince Eileen he had indeed bought an expensive new sofa – by using a coffin stuffed with pillows and covered in an old bedspread.
Yet when she realised the truth of the matter, Eileen was livid, while George confessed that it was the coffin he'd bought for her last year.
Eileen ranted: "The craftmanship is neither here nor there. How many people eat Christmas dinner out of their own coffin?"
She demanded of George: "What have you got planned for later? Walking off Christmas dinner with a stroll through the cemetery to pick my plot? I am not spending Christmas contemplating my own mortality."
Yet in later scenes on the Christmas Day special, Eileen was in for a legitimate treat from her son Jason, who nailed the gift-giving this year.
Jason sent her an e-ticket inviting her to Thailand, giving Eileen the opportunity to spend one month with him in the tropics.
Eileen was surprised to discover that she'd be leaving on Boxing Day – giving real life actress Sue the time away from the cobbles to film the ITV reality show I’m A Celebrity.
Sue's character remained on screen while in the Australian camp, but the soap scenes have now caught up with her departure as it is filmed in advance of the broadcast.
While Sue returned to filming at Corrie earlier this month, her character will now be leaving the cobbles for Thailand in order to account for Sue’s temporary exit from the show.
