Coronation Street star Bill Fellows announces sudden exit: 'I have no regrets at all...'

Bill Fellows has "no regrets at all" over leaving 'Coronation Street'.

The 67-year-old actor has played Stu Carpenter on the ITV1 soap opera since October 2021 and while he hasn't "ruled out" the idea of a comeback at some point, he thinks that his character has "evolved" since he joined as a homeless man, who had been wrongly imprisoned for murder in the years before his arrival.

He said: "I have no regrets at all. It is the right time to go for me and for Stu. I will look back with fond memories and I wouldn't rule out coming back in the future.

"But Stu has evolved, we started off with a homeless guy who was wrongly accused of murder and then we get to the point three years later where this guy's got almost a quarter of a million pounds and has cleared his name and made it a life for himself. I'm really pleased with the story, because it's been fully, fully formed."

During his time on the show, Stu has worked as a chef at Speed Daal and also struck up a relationship with his boss Yasmeen Nazir (Shelley King) but he will leave during scenes set to air in Monday (14.10.24) night's episode.

Having realised that his quest to try and mentor troubled teen Mason Radcliffe (Luca Toolan) has put Yasmeen and her business at risk, Stu tells her he has decided to go and live permanently with his granddaughter in Germany.

Away from 'Coronation Street', Bill is best known for his role as George Catrick in the hit Apple+ series 'Ted Lasso', but has been a regular face on British television since the 1980s with appearances in dramas such as 'Byker Grove', 'Heartbeat' and 'Casualty' over the years.

From 1997 until 1998, he had a main role in the Sky One series 'Dream Team', which also featured his future 'Corrie' co-star Alison King, who has now played Carla Connor for nearly 20 years.

Bill had previously auditioned for the role of Richard Lucas, who is the long-lost brother of cafe owner Roy Cropper (David Neilson), but the part eventually went to Paul Brown.

He said: "I had yes [thought about doing a soap before], in fact, I auditioned for the role of Roy’s brother, Nina’s dad before I got the role of Stu. I wasn't right for the part but it was for three weeks so it was fate really because I got this part and stayed three years. I am so proud to have been in 'Corrie'. It is a massive part of all our lives, especially at my age, 67, it has been around all my life."

'Coronation Street' is on ITV at 8pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday and available to stream from 7am on ITVX.