Coronation Street legend Chris Gascoyne, known for his role as Peter Barlow, will reportedly leave the cobbles behind later this year as he bids farewell to his 23-year stint on the popular ITV soap for a new career venture.
The 50-year-old actor first appeared as Peter during a live, 50-minute episode for the show's 40th anniversary and made a permanent return to the show in 2016. But now according to reports, he has decided to "take an extended break."
Despite a source insisting to the Mirror that it is only an "extended break" it has also been claimed that Chris feels it is the "right time" to look down other avenues of work in other roles, although it is still in speculation how he would exit the soap.
It comes as Chris announced previously that he would be taking on a new role away from Weatherfield earlier this year as he tries his hand at taking part in the upcoming pantomime season and will now be appearing at The Alban Arena.
And his fans flooded him with support as he shared the exciting career announcement. In an announcement shared on social media, the venue exclaimed: "EXCITING PANTO NEWS.
"The Alban Arena are delighted to announce Coronation Street Legend Chris Gascoyne will star as Captain Hook in The All New Adventures of Peter Pan this pantomime season! The Alban Arena are delighted to announce Coronation Street Legend Chris Gascoyne will star as Captain Hook in The All New Adventures of Peter Pan this pantomime season!"
Despite the career move, it has been claimed that the door will remain open to Chris should he decide to return to the cobbles. A source claimed: "Chris has decided to take an extended break from the soap.
"He loves working at Coronation Street but he's got a lot of things he wants to do and the time is right for him to take a break and pursue other roles."
According to the source, who spoke to The Sun, his decision to leave the soap "isn't a final goodbye" and the door is "left open" for him.
Chris' final storyline as Peter is yet to be confirmed however it was recently revealed a lot more is to come for the character, so ITV soap fans will need to wait a little longer to see where the storyline takes him.
The 50-year-old actor was cast as the seventh person to take on the role of Peter in 2000 and stayed on until 2003. He made a brief return in 2007 and a more permanent one a year later.
In 2012, Chris took a four-month break and left at the end of his contract towards the end of 2014.
Following the death of his co-star Anne Kirkbride, he returned in 2015 and said: "Coming back was like a healing process, we laughed a lot".
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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