Coronation Street’s Sue Devaney has opened up about her departure from the beloved ITV soap during a heartfelt conversation on This Morning. The actress, who is widely recognised for her role as Debbie Webster, is set to leave the show following an emotional dementia storyline.
Chatting with hosts Sian Welby and Dermot O’Leary, Sue revealed that she made a special request to producer Kate Brooks regarding Debbie’s journey. “I don’t want to know what’s coming up, I just want to get the scripts just because it is so long, I’d rather just know when I’m filming it,” she explained.
Sue also expressed her “mixed emotions” about tackling such a sensitive plotline, acknowledging the inevitable transformation of her character. “When you’ve got a storyline like dementia, you know that that character is going to change,” she remarked.
“It was a lot to take on but it’s a fantastic story and it’s an important story to tell.”
Previously, Sue had been tight-lipped about her exit, but she recently shared her initial “concerns” about what lies ahead for Debbie. “Kate called me into the office and she said we’ve got this brilliant story, and we want to give Debbie dementia,” she disclosed, reports the Mirror.
“And obviously, down the line, you don’t survive dementia. So I knew that the story would eventually come to an end and my character would come to an end. There was a mixture of a lot of things.”
Sue opened up about her emotional farewell to Coronation Street, recalling how it was her first gig at just 16. “I left after a year and now it will be coming to an end again. But I also realised this was a really important story to tell and is a really fantastic opportunity to act,” she shared.
Dispelling the whispers of her being “furious” about her departure from the show, Sue clarified that such rumours were “completely untrue”. She expressed her initial concerns were solely about delivering a powerful performance: “The only reason I was concerned about the storyline was because I wanted to be sure I could do it justice.”
In a heartfelt conversation with The Mirror, Sue spoke candidly about her personal connection to dementia, having cared for her father-in-law following his Alzheimer’s diagnosis seven years ago.
“He’s 90 and we’ve spent the past four years trying to sort out his care and finances,” she recounted. “At time, it was very hard and his behaviour could be erratic. Things have settled down now and he has round-the-clock care.”
