Coronation Street’s Lou Michaelis actress Farrel Hegarty has addressed her looming exit from the ITV soap, discussing taking on the role for the first time after fans were confused
One Coronation Street star has cleared up some mixed reports on their looming exit from the ITV soap just months after joining.
Viewers were stunned to find out weeks ago that Lou Michaelis actress Farrel Hegarty was leaving the role after less than a year. Lou will bow out this summer alongside onscreen husband Mick Michaelis, and now the actress playing Lou has spilled “it’s all about to implode” in a hint-filled bombshell about her departure.
After reports regarding a “shocking exit” left fans baffled by the abrupt news of the departures, it was confirmed by ITV that the exits had been planned for months. It was stated that Farrel and her co-star Joe Layton, who plays Mick, both knew they would only be on the show for a specific storyline and for a stint from the moment they landed the roles.
Now, actress Farrel has vaguely discussed the exit for the first time to The Mirror and other press. She teased what was ahead, while also confirming the fact that she did know from the start she would be leaving after a matter of months, with an exit always on the cards despite some reports.
She explained of why she took on the short-term role, knowing she would only be there for a specific amount of time: “I just think she really appealed to me because she’s the sort of person who’s never had it easy.
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“She’s built up a lot of coping mechanisms, where she’s presenting a hard and feisty character with her walls up, and all she’s ever known is these fiery relationships. And probably fiery relationships with a lot of people in her life, which is what makes a character like that so interesting.
“Because she’s a force and irrational. I read scripts and I go, ‘Oh God! What’s she doing now? What’s she saying now?’. Because it’s not a way that I would behave, and because of that, it’s so much fun to play. It’s that desperation to protect that inner circle and because of that, she makes a mess of things. But a character like that is so fun to play, because there’s never a dull moment.”
Farrel also addressed what’s ahead and what leads to her exit from the show. She teased: “There’s a lot more to come from these two, I’m afraid to say. I think there’s a lot happening. It’s all about to come to a head, it’s all about to implode.”
On the viewer reaction to her character, she confessed she wouldn’t get along with her soap alter-ego. She said: “I don’t know. She’s not a girl next door vibe. I wouldn’t want to be best mates with her. So she’s going to cause a mix of reactions.
“She’s the sort of person who puts her family first and unfortunately that’s the type of character who’s going to burn bridges along the way. I met some lovely fans outside the gates who’ve been really excited to see new faces in there, especially new faces who’ve come in all guns blazing. That’s been nice, to speak with them.”
Farrel also revealed how she felt playing the troublesome character. She said: “It’s great to play that character. I’m so lucky to play a role like this. To be honest, I tend not to get cast as shrinking violets if I’m honest! I must have one of those faces! But she’s brilliant to play.
“Some of her behaviour really makes me wince sometimes because I think she can be quite hot-headed, irrational and she speaks before she thinks and she protects her own, which gets her into trouble. She does have a massive heart for the people she loves and she has good qualities in that. But I think, to a lot of people it’s loud, feisty and quite unreasonable at times.”
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .