Bill Fellows has admitted that he always knew his time at Coronation Street in the role of Stu Carpenter would come to an end after three years.
The character left Weatherfield in emotional scenes on Monday night, having decided to join his granddaughter in Germany after putting his long-term love interest Yasmeen (Shelley King) at a financial risk.
"When I first started it was a six-month contract but with options that took me over three years," he explained. "At the time it was something that did panic me a little as I have my house down south and it seemed like a long time. I am used to playing lots of different characters and three years seemed a long time to play the same character.
"But I needn't have worried, what I realised when I got the chance to play someone for a long time it was heaven, really. I wasn't tied into anything and the three years have flown and this felt like the right time to go. I always knew I would go at the end of the three years."
He continued: "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 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 a life for himself. I'm really pleased with the story, because it's been fully, fully formed."
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and from 7am on ITVX.
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