Shona Platt is heading away from the cobbles for a period of time to allow for actress Julia Goulding ’s pregnancy with her second child, which she announced earlier this year.
Coronation Street fans have had plenty of time to prepare for her exit, leading to rampant speculation Shona could even be killed off by evil Stephen Reid.
It wouldn’t be the first time Shona faced grave danger, as Julia’s brief exit in 2020 where she headed on maternity leave ahead of the birth of her first child and her character Shona was shot and left in a coma.
Shona ended up leaving the street for rehabilitation, before returning later on.
However, Shona’s latest storyline has now been unveiled as she takes a break from the ITV soap.
Shona will leave Weatherfield to look after aspiring footballer Lily (Brooke Malonie) as she hopes to become the next Jill Scott, fans learnt in the latest episode of the soap.
Lily was given the huge opportunity to head to London at the end of the week, for a six-week training course at a professional ground.
Actress Julia is currently on maternity leave while her character, Shona, remains on the soap for the time being.
Julia, who is already mum to son Franklin Wolf, revealed in November that she and husband Ben Silver have welcomed a baby girl, who they’ve named Emmeline Beanie Silver.
The star shared the happy news on Instagram with a picture of her and Ben leaving the hospital with their newborn, alongside the caption: “On Saturday our little girl arrived.
“We’re absolutely elated and Franklin is besotted with his little sister, Emmeline Beanie Silver. She’s perfect.”
Coronation Street’s David Platt actor Jack P Shepherd previously promised fans they had nothing to worry about as Shona would not be killer Stephen Reid’s next victim.
In fact he revealed that her departure features no drama at all, and will be “run of the mill” as she leaves before a confirmed return later on.
Jack detailed that Shona will head off to London to chaperone his daughter Lily during a football tournament, while it seems she will stay there longer than the six weeks initially stated.
He confirmed: “No, no she’s not [going to be Stephen’s next victim]. It’s not dramatic at all.
“I can tell you she goes off to look after Lily in London. She’s doing a football tournament in London and she needs a chaperone. She goes, ‘I’ll go’, and goes off on maternity leave.
“The last time Julia went off on maternity leave Shona got shot! So it was like, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna do that again, is she gonna leave David?
“But no, it is gonna be a run of the mill. She goes off and then she comes back.”
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
