Coronation Street

Soap star Katherine Kelly gets ready to say goodbye to Coronation Street after six action-packed years.

The actress, who plays barmaid Becky McDonald, has revealed that fans of the soap are in for a treat when Becky leaves the street next week after she finds out the truth about toxic Tracy’s wicked lies.

The explosive exit will see Becky turning up at Steve and Tracy’s wedding and revealing the extent of Tracy’s devious and manipulative ways, ruining the pair’s big day and leaving Steve full of regret.

Bolshy Becky will be leaving the cobbles soon afterwards, and although Steve follows her to the airport and begs her to stay, she’s had enough of Weatherfield and says her emotional goodbyes.

Although she’s not returning to the street, Becky still has a big decision to make – is she going to head to Barbados for a new life with boyfriend Danny and his young son or will she head off on her own to start again?

Becky has had an action packed six years, from her first appearance in a police station and through her triumphs and disasters, and Katherine thinks that her send-off will please Corrie fans. Speaking to the Worksop Guardian, she revealed:

"I think it's just not the ending that you maybe would expect. I certainly didn't expect it. I know they were wrestling for ages with what to do with her.

"It could have been anything, really, but the ending that they chose and they wrote is really fitting and I hope it's what the nation would want for her. It's certainly what I would want for her. Hopefully it just wasn't too predictable."

The actress has been nominated for best Serial Drama Performance at this year’s National Television Awards, and Coronation Street producer Phil Collinson praised her at the recent Radio Times Covers Party and said: “Kelly is a brilliant actress and a lovely person. She works so hard and deserves all the success that she's had.”

A special one-off programme, Farewell Becky, will be shown on STV next week to say goodbye to the iconic star. The show will reveal how Katherine made the character of Becky her own and where she got the inspiration from for her outlandish outfits.

There will also be contributions from several of Katherine’s fellow Corrie stars, including Simon Gregson, Kate Ford and Julie Hesmondhalgh, who play Steve McDonald, Tracy Barlow and Hayley Cropper.

Becky’s final Coronation Street scenes will be shown on STV tonight (Monday) at 7.30pm and 8.30pm. Farewell Becky will be shown at 7.30pm tomorrow (Tuesday).

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