Hayley Cropper's Corrie exit 'won't be a tear fest'
Julie Hesmondhalgh has promised 'Coronation Street' fans her exit from the soap won't be a "Christmas tear fest".
The 43-year-old actress filmed her final scenes for the ITV show as terminal cancer-sufferer Hayley Cropper yesterday, but she has taken to her Twitter account to reassure supporters they will not be crying into their Christmas dinner over her departure.
Thank you Corrie for amazing send off yesterday. And thanks for all your lovely messages on here. I can't bear it! Away for few days now xx
— Julie Hesmondhalgh💙 (@juliehes) November 19, 2013
...and I promise it's not a Xmas tear fest. We're way past Xmas in Weatherfield now. xxx
— Julie Hesmondhalgh💙 (@juliehes) November 19, 2013
She wrote: "I promise it's not a Xmas tear fest. We're way past Xmas in Weatherfield now. xxx (sic)"
Julie - who has played Hayley since 1998 - also admitted she was overcome with emotion after filming her final few scenes on the cobbles and is now going on holiday for a few days to get over her exit.
She tweeted: "Thank you Corrie for amazing send off yesterday. And thanks for all your lovely messages on here. I can't bear it! Away for few days now xx (sic)"
Hayley will depart Weatherfield in January next year in a right-to-die storyline after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
While fans were devastated at finding out the loveable character was to be diagnosed with the deadly disease, 'Coronation Street' producer Stuart Blackburn recently admitted opting to kill off the factory worker - who will leave behind her husband Roy Cropper (David Neilson) - was "the easiest decision" he ever made.
He said: "I would have done anything to persuade Julie to stay, but I appreciate that her mind was made up, which made killing off Hayley the easiest decision I've made. There was no other way."
