The actress hasn’t been seen in the ITV soap for seven years, after she had a four-year stint on the show
Former Coronation Street star Faye Brookes(Image: ITV)
Faye Brookes has addressed whether she would be up for returning to Coronation Street as she shared how she is often asked by fans about Kate Connor making a comeback to the cobbles.
The actress hasn’t been seen in the ITV soap for seven years, after she had a four-year stint on the show as Kate before departing in 2019, saying at the time that she wanted to “explore new opportunities” and that her character needed a break.
Corrie fans will recall that Kate arrived in Weatherfield in 2015, revealed as the half-sister of Underworld factory boss Carla Connor-Swain, when ITV bosses chose to extend the Connor clan.
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During her time in Weatherfield, Faye, from Stretford, went and won Best Newcomer for her portrayal of Kate in 2017 at the National Television Awards. But two years later, the actress chose to leave Corrie behind.
Now, the 38-year-old admitted fans still ask her if she will ever be back on the cobbles. “I get a lot of, ‘why is Kate not coming back?'” she laughed while speaking to the Express during a break from rehearsals for her latest project.
“I think that’s a really lovely thing to have them want me to come back to Coronation Street, because I [Kate] didn’t die. I’m still alive and travelling, and those doors left open, and also that’s an opportunity to be had in itself,” she said.
“But I do love being able to play other characters, and I really am continuing to stretch myself as an artist, and I want to keep doing that. I think going back…yes, that door is open, [and] if that is in my journey, great. But I love the fact that I am continuing with new projects, new characters, the fans are just as supportive.”
Faye spent four years playing Kate Connor in the ITV soap(Image: itv)
She added: “Coronation Street catapulted my career, so I never condemn it. I always celebrate it. And I think that’s what the fans are doing for me at the same time. It’s quite a lovely thing. I’ve been so lucky to have gained such a lovely following from my time at Coronation Street, and they’ve been nothing but supportive.”
Faye started out in musical theatre before TV, having had various roles in theatre productions, including Grease, The Sound of Music and appeared as lead Elle Woods in Legally Blonde The Musical in 2012. She went on to return to the stage, with her roles since Corrie including Roxie Hart in the Chicago UK tour.
She is now set to appear in Double Double, which is running from April 28 until May 30 in the Barn Theatre, Cirencester, Cotswolds, alongside another former Corrie star, Daniel Brocklebank, who was seen bowing out of the soap as Billy Mayhew earlier this year in tragic scenes.