Coronation Street's Nathan Graham has quit the ITV soap.
The actor - who has played James Bailey on the programme for three years - is bowing out of the ITV soap in the coming weeks in a big storyline, just a few weeks after his character was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. James collapsed during a charity football game and was diagnosed with some serious health issues.
Now, James is said to be exiting the soap amid the health storyline, with the character set to turn his back on Weatherfield as he looks for a new start following his diagnosis. His exit comes just as his sister arrives on the Cobbles.
"James will have to choose between his love of his footballing career and his health," a source told The Sun, "His exit will see him leave behind Weatherfield for a new start away from the street.
"James’ family are still on the cobbles and he will only be a train ride away so it may not be the last viewers have seen of him."
The Mirror have reached out to a representative for Coronation Street for comment.
His exit comes as actress Channique Sterling-Brown joins the cast as James' sister, Dee Dee Bailey.
Speaking to The Mirror and other press about her character, Channique shared: "Dee Dee is gonna be a lot of fun, a lot of chaos but in a good way. She makes a friend in Alya which has been great. You know, they're delving into Stu's case and seeing if he can be exonerated. I think that's gonna be really exciting for us because it's such a big storyline and gripping and it's two young women [playing] detective, I think it's really brilliant and I am excited to see where it goes."
Channique says she's very much like Dee herself, and describes the character as "organised chaos".
"She's a bit of me. Organised chaos is how I would describe her. She's a great lawyer. She knows what she's doing. I relate to her because I think we are quite similar in that I'm really friendly," she added.
"I'm really chatty while I'm in the zone when I'm working hard. Also, just like even the fact she's a lawyer like I was originally not going to go to drama school and I was going to train in law, and I got a place at a law school and everything and last minute, I pulled out and decided to pursue drama school and they said to me, come back to us when you've worked the acting out of your system."
