Sally Ann Matthews is leaving the role of Jenny Connor in Corrie (Picture: ITV)
Coronation Street star Sally Ann Matthews appears to have confirmed her departure from the ITV soap after a ten year stint.
The Jenny Connor actress took to Instagram to share a picture of Jenny during one of her most hard-hitting storylines, which saw the character kidnap Jack Webster after the loss of her own son.
Alongside the picture she wrote: ‘I was supposed to stay for five months but ended up doing an extra ten years because I loved it so much!
‘It’s time though to play those parts I always hoped I would when I’d “grown up.” Thanks Trafford Wharf Rd for the memories and endless laughter.’
Metro has reached out to Coronation Street for comment.
Fans are already reaching out in support of the actress, who first appeared in 1986 as the foster daughter of Rita Fairclough (Barbara Knox).
‘Gutted tbh. Your character has me in fits…,’ one said in the comments of the post, while another wrote: ‘One of my favourite characters. She is Corrie old school honesty and humour and will be missed.’
A third was clearly in disbelief, writing: ‘SORRY WHAT.’
Jenny’s original stint on the cobbles lasted five years, with the character making a brief return in 1993.
Jenny has been landlady of the Rovers for years: Danielle Baguley/Shutterstock)
The daughter of wicked Alan Bradley (Mark Eden), Jenny first appeared as the papergirl at The Kabin. After being taken into No. 7, she caused no end of trouble when she supported her father during his prison sentence for swindling and assaulting Rita. She even blamed her for his death under the wheels of a Blackpool tram in 1989.
Returning in 1993, she asked Rita for £30,000 to open her own beauty salon. The toffee shop owner quickly realised that she had only returned for her money – and wrote a cheque for £1,000 to send her packing.
In 2015, Jenny arrived back onto the cobbles and straight into a disastrous relationship with Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell), before taking on a more permanent stint the following year.
Fans have supported Sal in her announcement (Picture: Danielle Baguley/Shutterstock)
The character has been central to the programme for quite some time, kicking off when Jenny lost her husband Johnny (Richard Hawley) in a freak drowning accident in a sewer system.
Former step-daughter Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) would later arrive and in more recent months, convince her to use stolen money from the Underworld factory to buy back the Rovers Return.
Sal sparked fears that she was leaving the soap in June last year, when she appeared on Instagram live saying: ‘I’m going to just chill on the boat and do nowt pretty much, and then I’m going to go back to Cyprus, and then I’m going to do nowt and at some point, I might get a job, and someone might employ me!’
This piqued the interest of a number of concerned viewers, who began to ask if she’d left, as Jenny hasn’t appeared on our screens much this year.
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