Coronation Street star warns of 'stigma' after soap exit in 'brutally honest' truth

Coronation Street's Katie McGlynn has told of how she was 'overjoyed' to be killed off the ITV soap.

The actress, 32, starred as Underworld machinist Sinead Tinker from 2013 until 2019 on the long-running serial and saw her character through a harrowing cervical cancer storyline that ultimately ended in Sinead's death but has now insisted that she has 'no regrets' in how things turned out.

Asked how she felt about being killed off, she told The Mirror: "I'll be brutally honest with you, I was overjoyed, I know that sounds really dark, but genuinely I was so happy because to get a storyline like that from Coronation Street, which is one of the biggest shows on TV, in people's living rooms.

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"To get the chance to do that storyline it was a dream come true. It was sad to leave the show, it was sad to leave the character, but I really wanted to do a good job. It was a challenge. It's never boring, there's always challenges to be faced and that's what I love about it I think it was probably my favourite time on the Street doing that story.

"It sounds a bit sadistic but it was just because it was so beautifully written and because it was such a gem to do and it was a serious storyline. There was a lot of work involved. I can't take the credit for it. It was everybody. I have no regrets whether I was very proud that I was part of it."

Katie, whose words come amid a mass of other soap exits thanks to ITV budget cuts, has now teamed up withEastEnders actor Max Bowden and fellow Corrie icon Susie Blake, and Jason Durr of Heartbeat fame to appear in Murder at Midnight, which is touring the UK from September.

However, the former Strictly Come Dancing star, who also enjoyed a stint on Hollyoaksas conspiracy theorist Becky Quentin, has warned that there is a 'stigma' around soap actors within the industry who try to break free from a long-running role.

She said: "I do think it's a shame that there is stigma with soap actors. It is hard work on a soap. It's very quick, and you have to get all the storytelling, everything jam-packed in every week, and it's just constantly going.

"You don't get as much time as you do for this job I'm doing now, I'm very lucky with three or four weeks of rehearsal.

"You never get that kind of a continuing drama so I'm still in awe of everybody that's working so well. It really is a tough job and I think everybody's brilliant to be able to pull that off all the time and entertain the nation."

Katie, who first rose to fame when she played tough teenager Jodie 'Scout' Allen in Waterloo Road, also teased that a return to screen could be on the cards but she is 'fully focused' on treading the boards at the moment as she is in the new touring stage show, Murder at Midnight.

Asked if she would like to follow in the footsteps of other former Coronation Street stars like Suranne Jones and Michelle Keegan by going into high-profile dramas, she said: "I'm just gonna see what happens. I never plan it. I just kind of go with the flow, with my career.

"It's one of those careers that you kind of have to, nothing is ever set in stone depending on the situation. So, yeah, I'd love to do TV again. I'll just have to see what happens when the tour is done."

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