Fans knew Charlie De Melo was calling time on his Coronation Street journey, but they had no clue how Imran Habeeb would depart from Weatherfield. There was a shock during Wednesday night’s edition of the ITV soap as the solicitor tragically died.
He and his wife Toyah were involved in a horror car crash earlier in the week, which left viewers baffled as they didn’t see exactly what happened. But during the mid-week episode, they saw Imran desperately trying to escape the car and take Toyah with him - to no avail.
The pair eventually ended up getting help and while Toyah appeared to be the most harmed, it was Imran who succumbed to his non-obvious injuries, leaving fans shocked. There will now be questions asked about how the crash happened. And Abi and Kevin find themselves under suspicion from the police.
But Charlie did have another idea how he might have left the long-running soap after deciding it was time to move on. “I told Georgia [Taylor, who plays Imran’s wife Toyah] I was going to leave before I ever told Corrie. I wanted to make sure she knew first and she could get her ducks in a row,” the actor told the Manchester Evening News and other press.
“I said to her that I’ve been daydreaming about what that final scene will be and in my head what ti was, was at some point, somehow, Imran finding out about Gary Windass’ responsibility for the factory roof collapse.”
As viewers know, the reformed bad boy was responsible for the death of Imran’s sister Rana. In horror scenes back in 2019, Rana when she became trapped inside Underworld on her wedding day and the roof crumbled on top of her.
But Charlie’s daydream didn’t stop there. “Inviting him [Gary] to the roof for some kind of conversation. It pouring down with rain and Gary climbing up the ladder and seeing Imran there holding whatever kind of evidence he had got and then it being a scuffle and Gary having Imran bang to rights across the roof and letting go. That’s the final loosend but that would have flown in the face of the very well done, well-put-together redemption arc of Gary Windass they have been working on so that couldn’t have worked.”
And it appears to be hard for Charlie to get out of his character as he revealed the set momentos he took with him as he left the Salford-based set for the last time. “I have taken many [keepsakes],” the 32-year-old admitted. “I’ve taken a few bits that aren’t specific to me so I’ve got a Rovers beermat and a Roys Rolls placeholder.” He even walked away with Imran’s entire wardrobe! “Costume said to me, ‘Charlie, you’d be doing us a real favour if you took all of it,’ so I was like, ‘Guys, I’m a team player. I will do this for you.’”
He then added: “And I actually realised I’ve been wearing my wedding ring since I’ve left. I’ve not taken it off. I thought it’d be an annoying hindrance but now I reliase when I put it down somewhere and I’m not wearing it anymore [he misses it].”
