{"id":306836,"date":"2026-02-19T21:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T21:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/306836\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T21:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T21:36:09","slug":"coronation-street-police-favourite-returns-to-filming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/306836\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronation Street police favourite returns to filming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coronation Street spoilers<\/a> follow.<\/p>\n

Coronation Street<\/a>‘s Donnaleigh Bailey has revealed she has returned to filming as fan-favourite character Jess Heywood. The actor has appeared on-and-off as the police officer since 2017. The star has now shared a series of Instagram<\/a> posts confirming she is back to film scenes after last appearing in 2025, saying she was “forever grateful”.<\/p>\n

“Time on my favourite street playing my favourite copper Jess,” she captioned a series of selfies from the set, before teasing: “Some lovely stuff coming up on your teleboxes.”<\/p>\n

In a follow-up clip<\/a> saying hello to fans, Donnaleigh said she was “busy filming and keeping the street of Weatherfield safe”.<\/p>\n

“One of my favourite things to do is take a walk on the cobbles,” she added. “It really inspires me, and I just think, how lucky am I to work in the most amazing places ever, the nation’s favourite soap. It’s incredible and I’m grateful every day.”<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

Jess was notably a mentor figure to the late police officer Craig Tinker, who was killed off in violent scenes last May<\/a> by Mick Michaelis.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Digital Spy<\/a> last year, actor Colson Smith recalled learning that his character would die, sharing: “I asked [Corrie producer] Kate [Brooks]: ‘Do I get killed?’<\/p>\n

“She stopped and stumbled a little bit, but I said: ‘If it makes it easier for you, the right answer for me is yes! For me to go, I would want Craig to die. I’d want the door to be shut, so I could know in my head that his journey is now over’.<\/p>\n

\"hope,<\/p>\n

ITV<\/p>\n

Related: Coronation Street updates fans on classic character \u2013 10 years after her exit<\/a><\/p>\n

“So in a really weird way, it was the right thing for Craig to be killed. I didn’t want that possibility of ‘We might have you back’ \u2013 knowing that it would be very unlikely, and knowing that it would feel a bit like unfinished business.”<\/p>\n

Colson said that his “hero’s death” was “by far the most perfect story for his exit”, adding: “I’ve got everything that I’ve got from Coronation Street and that’s it now, because I know there’s no return for Craig in the future.”<\/p>\n

Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast<\/a> from Inside Soap magazine. The latest episode<\/a> delves into next week\u2019s soap spoilers for EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale – featuring an unexpected pregnancy, dark new alliances, and secretive newcomers causing chaos on the cobbles.<\/p>\n