CORONATION Street star Claire Sweeney has signed a new contract to take her into next year.
The actress – who plays scheming Cassie Plummer in the ITV soap – put pen to paper recently to confirm her future on the cobbles.
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Claire Sweeney is sticking around as Cassie PlummerCredit: ITV
![FROM ITV.... ..CORONATION STREET AND EMMERDALE ANNOUNCE IMAGINATIVE CROSSOVER HOUR LONG EPISODE TO LAUNCH NEW ITV1 AND STV SCHEDULING PATTERN IN JANUARY 2026...ITVs flagship soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale will join forces in an unprecedented, one-off special episode to launch the broadcasters new power hour of soap which begins on ITV1 and STV in January 2026. ..For the first time in British soap history, the hour-long episode will see characters from both soaps come together in a celebration of the soap genre. ..To herald the beginning of the new scheduling pattern, both soaps will mark the occasion in spectacular style, as the combined production teams embark on an ambitious stunt that will have everlasting consequences for everyone involved...The distinctive worlds of Emmerdale and Coronation Street will merge for one night only in a mash-up of our two favourite communities...The producers, scriptwriters and production teams have conceived an ingenious way of linking the two universes, but with characters then returning to the soaps they are renowned for inhabiting in Manchester and Yorkshire. ..The episode will be self-contained, but the consequences of the high-stakes drama will have repercussions for both communities and see them linked forever as familiar faces depart and exciting new characters arrive into both soaps. ..Each soap will then return to its new normal pattern of transmission - 30 minutes each evening - Emmerdale episodes at 8pm, and Coronation Street episodes at 8.30pm on ITV1 and STV. Episodes will continue to drop at 7am on ITVX and STV Player, before transmission that evening...And in an extra treat for the viewers, the producers of both programmes are inviting the audience to choose which two characters, one from each soap, they would like to see meet and interact in a scene. Details of this initiative will be launched next month via Coronation Street and Emmerdales Insta, Facebook and Tik Tok accounts with viewers then able to influence the content of our two pre-eminent soaps. ..The new schedule chimes with research insights that show 30-minute episodes attracted higher audiences in 2024, and deliver more digestible instalments of continuing drama that better fits with changing viewer habits...Coronation Street and Emmerdale are the UKs biggest soaps with a combined weekly reach of over 8 million viewers. ..The changes ensure that ITV remains the premier home of soap, as the commissioning broadcaster that backs the genre more than anyone else in the market. ..As part of the drive to bring the soaps to the biggest possible audiences, however they choose to watch, ITV also launched a new dedicated home for soap on ITVX in 2024, and in 2025 is pledging additional marketing support, with the aim of maintaining Coronation Street and Emmerdales leading position long into the future...Both soaps have had strong start to 2025 with 124 million streams on ITVX. Soap viewing is up +35% on Q1 2024, as a consequence of strong storylines and episodes being available for streaming on ITVX and STV Player from 7am ahead of their evening broadcast. ..This photograph is (C) ITV Plc and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Coronation_St_Emmerdale_Imagejpg-JS994330547.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
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There’s going to be a big ITV soaps crossover next yearCredit: ITV
A source said: “Claire loves being on Corrie – it’s a dream job, so she was delighted to sign a new deal.
“With the big Emmerdale crossover coming in 2026, there’s also a hope that she’ll be in that too.
“It’s a great opportunity to be part of soap history so who wouldn’t want to be involved?”
Claire arrived on the cobbles in 2023 as the long-lost and thought dead daughter of Evelyn Plummer – and the birth mother of Tyrone Dobbs.
In her two years Cassie has battled drug addiction, tried to destroy Kevin and Abi Webster, bedded Steve McDonald and poisoned and robbed Ken Barlow.
Claire addressed her Corrie future while speaking to The Sun Online and other members of the press at the TV Choice Awards earlier this year.
She said: “I’m doing good and I’m happy and I’m working.
“I’m in Coronation Street for this year and I’m very happy.”
Before stepping onto the Cobbles, she played Lindsey Corkhill on Channel 4 soap Brookside for 12 years.
The Liverpool-set soap opera launched in 1982 and concluded in 2003.
Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow in serious danger as Cassie Plummer’s sick scheme takes a dark twist
Asked if she would be up for rejoining Brookside should it return, Claire revealed her loyalty lies with Coronation Street.
The actress reiterated: “I’m in Corrie and I’m very happy at Corrie.”
