He joined Coronation Street back in 2019 as a member of the Bailey family, and footballer James Bailey said an emotional goodbye to the street as he headed off to start a new job in south-east London. After his career in football at Weatherfield County came to an abrupt end after he suffered a cardiac arrest and found out he had a heart condition cardiomyopathy, James has begun a new chapter in his life.
In Monday night's episode (October 3) his uncle Ronnie told James there’s a youth centre near Lewisham looking for a football coach. Realising it’s close to where boyfriend Danny Tomlinson lives, James promised to call them straight away.
An excited James told Ronnie that he got the job at the youth centre and starts tomorrow. In the bistro, James broke the news to the family that he’d landed a great new job, but it meant moving to London.
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Cheered on by mum and dad Ed and Aggie and siblings Michael and Dee-Dee and their neighbours, he bid an emotional farewell to James as he left the street in a taxi. But viewers were left baffled. @Sally33903769 tweeted: "So james has got a new job and is leaving in the space of a day? Which world is he living in?!"
@missadventure79 remarked: "So James just gets the job and is starting straight away, eh? What about the month-long wait for the DBS check?" And @Jennifergirl68 commented: "#Corrie wow James’s decides to go into coaching and just like that he’s got a job."
Other fans were sad to see the character, played by Nathan Graham, go, saying they wanted to see more from the character. @DanJBrownMUFC tweeted: "I’m sad to see James go. Having a regular character as a footballer has been fun and interesting."
They added: "He’s been one of my favourite characters the past few years, and had some really important storylines. A great send off. Glad we got the Bailey family meal scene."
@Clawmaw complained: "All of the hotties/eye candy are leaving! First Imran and now James. It won't be worth watching Corrie soon." Not long after his arrival on the cobbles the character had a ground-breaking storyline exploring homophobia in football as he came out as gay.
@RyanGSoapKing11 said: "I'm going to miss James I wish he was given more storylines especially surrounding sexuality." And @ElloTeenah said: "Bye James! Could have done so much more with his character. I’m mad he was only ever the gay footballer who had to quit bc of a heart condition. Sorry." And @ShakyWoon wrote: "Farewell James Bailey! You will be missed."
Actor Nathan, explaining his decision to leave, said it "felt right." He said: "When it came to my decision to leave I mean it was very difficult, it was a tough thing to decide, obviously for various reasons.
"Going from a place of security to not know what is next is scary and a risk. But then also it was just the right decision and it felt right. I had a good chat with (executive producer) Iain MacLeod and he understood my decision.
"I have had some great storylines and I did wonder where the character could go next so I felt it was time to go and do something different for me. At this moment in time I only have myself to think of and that is the time to step out of your comfort zone. Once you are settled down with responsibilities and a family to think of it isn't as easy to make that leap."
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