Former Coronation Street star Millie Gibson says she was crying 'happy tears' as she officially wrapped up her time on the ITV soap. Viewers of the ITV soap watched last month as the actress' character Kelly Neelan left the street.
Viewers thought Kelly would be making a permanent exit from the cobbles after her plans to have Gary Windass bumped off for killing her dad a number of years ago backfired and saw her own life hanging in the balance. The teen character hired her former kidnapper Kieron to carry out the criminal task for £10,000.
However, she ended up being kidnapped by the criminal herself and left on the edge of a roof overlooking the city skyline with Kieron wielding his gun at her. He told her to jump before telling his associate to push her off. But just in time, Gary arrived and when a shot rang out, it was Kelly's fiancé Aadi Alahan who jumped in its path.
With all three of them having, luckily, survived, Kelly decided she couldn't stay in Weatherfield knowing what Gary did and how she almost followed in her dad's criminal footsteps and broke off her engagement before leaving the street.
Millie later took to Instagram to share a final message with fans of the long-running soap. She typed a heartfelt message alongside a string of pictures from her last days filming on the famous street. "It’s with a very heavy, but full heart that it is time to say goodbye to Kelly Neelan," Millie typed alongside the images.
"These past 4 years have been like no other and I can’t begin to describe how much I’m going to miss this place and the people in it. Everyone that has been a part of this storyline has been nothing but incredible and I couldn’t have asked for a better block to end on. I’ve had the honour of being surrounded by such talent and kindness over the years and have met friends and a second family for life. I’ll never forget my time here or the memories it has given me. I can’t say thank you enough for letting me be a small piece of the Coronation Street family. Bye for now, Kel."
However, it wasn't quite the end at that moment as she had one more job to do - and that was reuniting with her former co-star Mikey North in another country. Last weekend the pair jetted off to Canada, where more people watch the ITV soap than in the UK, on a big press trip.
During an appearance on This Morning last month, Mikey told Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary: "It's [Corrie's] got a bigger audience share in Canada than it does here.
"So we're going to go there in a couple of weeks and meet some fans and tour around Canada." As Alsion joked about it being a "bit of a jolly", Millie laughed and agreed. But it's not Mikey's first time taking to soap on the road. "I've done it a few time but this is the first time I'm going with Millie." Millie, 18, then chipped in: "It's a nice goodbye. I'm really looking forward to it."
And it appears they have been having a great time on their mini Canadian tour, with Millie sharing photos and videos of her and Mikey's escapades as they visited the sights, headed to an ice hockey game and, of course, did some work chatting to fans of the ITV soap.
But all good things must come to an end and on Friday night (October 21) Millie took to Instagram with a mirror selfie of herself showing off her latest glamorous look. The former soap star looked stunning in a silky red gown which she paired with matching red shoes. She kept warm by adding a long black coat but added a matching red bag to accessorise.
As she pointed for the camera with a glossy red lip, Millie said: "Final show..." she added a red heart before sharing how her outfit was a nod to her on-screen character. "Red for a final goodbye to our Kel," she typed, adding in a photo of her and Mikey filming their last scenes together which involved Millie wearing a red outfit.
She then returned with a photo of her and Mikey, who looked dapper in a checked suit and shiny brogues, and wrote: "This is the end." And the emotions clearly got to her as she shared a follow-up of her swigging from a bottle of fizz with tear-filled eyes as she wrote: "(Happy tears) We love you Canada."
Back in September, when talking to the Manchester Evening News and other press about her exit, Millie became emotional as she shared her reasons for bowing out of Corrie. She told us: "I think Corrie is… it’s a home. That’s the best way I can describe it and because I’m so young, I just thought I need to leave home for a bit and spread my wings and see what could happen."
However, Millie, from Broadbottom, added: "I have no responsibilities. I don’t have kids, I don’t have a mortgage to pay or anything like that yet, I’m still grateful to be living at home. So I’ve just been a bit like I’m going to see what else the world has and if it does, it does. That would be quite good, wouldn’t it? But I thought I may as well see what happens while I’m still young. But I’m going to miss it so much."
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