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Coronation Street star reveals she's signed a new contract to keep her on soap for another year amid cast exodus

Coronation Street star reveals she's signed a new contract to keep her on soap for another year amid cast exodus

The Sun4 days ago

ONE of the stars of Coronation Street has revealed that she's signed a new contract.
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This is set to keep her on the seemingly struggling ITV soap for at least another year amid the cast exodus.
A number of high-profile stars have left Coronation Street after a string of high-profile budget cuts.
However, one star has revealed that she is very much set to stay on the cobbles, and possibly behind the bar of the Rovers.
West End star Jodie Prenger, 46, first made her debut on the long-running serial drama as Glenda Shuttleworth in August 2022.
She rose to fame after winning the second series of The Biggest Loser in 2006.
This was before she beat out the likes of Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley to win the role of Nancy in the 2009 West End revival of Oliver as part of Andrew Lloyd Webber's BBC Talent show, I'd Do Anything.
The actress soon swapped the stage for the screen as she secured a 'dream' role on the cobbles.
Jodie has now revealed that she's set to reprise her popular role in more episodes of the show.
She excitedly told Bella magazine: "I've just re-signed my contract! The poor things have got stuck with me for another year!
"I'm thrilled. I love it there. I used to always say to my agent, 'Would you ask if I can be on Corrie?'."
She added: "I was that crazy person outside, pitched in a tent, wanting to get in – and now I'm in!"
Coronation Street's Jodie Prenger reveals future of Platt family after fans feared another soap legend will quit
This comes following a string of high-profile exits including Helen Worth, who departed her long-running role as Gail Platt.
This was after a 50-year tenure on ITV screens which kicked off a series of other long-running cast members also leaving Weatherfield.
Former I'm A Celeb campmate Sue Cleaver left her role as Eileen Grimshaw behind, whilst Daisy Midgeley (played by Charlotte Jordan) flew abroad for a new life in the sun.
Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) was dramatically killed off, while fans are currently witnessing the decline of Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) from Dementia.
Corrie cash crisis: shock exits for 2025
ITV bosses are locked in a battle to save the cash-strapped soap.
This means that a number of stars have either been axed from or have abandoned the long-running serial drama.
Colson Smith - Craig Tinker
The character of Craig Tinker has been axed by bosses after 14 years. After he was told of the news in Autumn 2024, Colson Smith confirmed that would be written out of the show with scenes to air later this year. Craig's on-screen mum, Beth Tinker, also left the show in the summer when actress Lisa George was written out from the role.
Sue Cleaver - Eileen Grimshaw
After 25 years playing Eileen Grimshaw, former I'm A Celebrity campmate Sue Cleaver will quit the show. The Sun on Sunday reported in January that she's already begun to film her exit scenes. However the character will not be killed off in case Sue opts to make a return in the future.
Luca Toolan - Mason Radcliffe
Bosses decided to axe the teenage character after just 16 months after he first joined the show. Recent scenes saw Mason stabbed by his criminal brothers after his pal Dylan brought a knife in an attempt to defend him.
Sue Devaney - Debbie Webster
In November 2024, we revealed that Debbie Webster is set to be killed off after 40 years on the cobbles. The character will die as part of a heartbreaking long-running dementia storyline.
Charlotte Jordan - Daisy Midgeley
The actress became the fifth star to leave Coronation Street in just one month. We revealed that she will bow out of the ITV soap later this year after four years on-screen. Charlotte told sources that she's hungry to see what other opportunities await.
Shelley King - Yasmeen Metcalfe
The actress has played Yasmeen Metcalfe on the cobbles for the past 11 years and we revealed in January that she finished filming her final scenes. This follows the departure of her on-screen partner Stu Carpenter.
Yasmeen Metcalfe (Shelley King) also left the street to volunteer at a modern slavery charity in London after her partner Stu Carpenter (Bill Fellows) started fresh in Germany.
This is after ITV slashed the number of weekly episodes of their entire soap offering.
Emmerdale used to air six episodes per week, Monday to Friday with a double episode on Thursdays.
Corrie also aired six episodes per week, which were spread across Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with two episodes each night.
Now just five 30-minute episodes of each soap will air in what execs have labelled as the ' soap power hour'.
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Coronation Street airs on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.

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Jebelli urges readers to prioritise sustained wellbeing over 'short-term productivity' and recognise the early warning signs of work burnout. He runs through all the stages, which will feel distressingly familiar to anyone who has experienced it: a subtle feeling of dissatisfaction, followed by stress and emotional exhaustion, that quickly leads to cynicism. • How to supercharge your brain — the experts' rules 'Next comes dehumanisation,' he warns, which manifests as an 'emotional hardening' towards your colleagues. You start complaining about everything, which leads to irrational worry and a 'heavy, suffocating feeling of dread'. Your mind stores feelings of guilt, hopelessness and incompetence that you wear 'like a skin'. Then the most alarming sentence: 'Once it sets in, it can take up to three years to recover.' In the case of Jebelli's father, Abolfazl, though, it's probably too late. As with his 2017 book, In Pursuit of Memory — in which Jebelli described his grandfather's struggle with Alzheimer's — this book is fuelled by a painful personal narrative, in this case what Jebelli calls his family's 'toxic relationship with work' since they emigrated from Iran to England in the early 1980s. It's a classic immigrant story: the family threw themselves into jobs of 'soul-crushing monotony' to make the family back home feel proud. For Abolfazl, who worked long hours in an office, 'this new world was efficient, yes, but desolate'. One day, after he came home shouting, he quit his job and never went back. He was diagnosed with a major depressive disorder and hasn't worked since. He now sleeps most of the day. The pressure has fallen on Jebelli's 68-year-old mother, who runs a day care centre but suffers from diminished sight and dangerously high blood pressure that she never has time to address. It's a continuing source of anguish for Jebelli, who insists that the sacrifices they have made on their health are 'not in vain, for it taught me the value of rest'. He struggles with a 'debilitating' anxiety disorder', alleviated by embracing the Dutch art of niksen, a verb that literally means 'to nothing'. He doesn't just stare into space. He forest bathes (walks in the woods), goes for long runs, finds solitude in ten-day solo retreats in remote cabins and plays a fair bit of Mario Kart and zombie shooter games. Still, there are several moments when Jebelli's assertions seem more borne of personal preference than actual research. I don't believe that computer games are better for your health than socialising (an 'unhealthy obsession' of the modern world, he believes). Similarly, he conflates scrolling TikTok with watching a TV show on Netflix, which is apparently full of 'complex storylines' and 'moral dilemmas', which overtaxes your brain. I'd be interested in seeing him go head to head with the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, the author of The Anxious Generation, on this one. 'Here's what's really bad,' Haidt has said. 'iPad time by yourself. It's solitary.' • Read more book reviews and interviews — and see what's top of the Sunday Times Bestsellers List Nor does Jebelli address the gendered nature of rest. Women at work who slack off face far more stigma. In my present co-working space, I have a running joke with my male colleagues — or 'leisure dads' as I've dubbed them — about their hour-long lunch breaks in the park and 11.30am starts after a rock climbing session. But perhaps we could all learn from the leisure dad class. I don't see them suffering from burnout. The revolution has to start somewhere and I think Jebelli's spotlighting of the cognitive benefits is supremely helpful. For all my niggles, The Brain at Rest is inspiring and practical and, I hope, signals a wider change in how we think about work. 'We need to set firm boundaries so that saying 'no' becomes a respected choice, not a sign of weakness, a mark of wisdom, not a failure.' The Brain at Rest: Why Doing Nothing Can Change Your Life by Dr Joseph Jebelli (Torva £20 pp256). To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members 1. Walk slowly through a forest. This helps to improve our creativity and problem-solving abilities. While you're there, hug a tree, which reduces cortisol and activates your brain's default network. 2. Listen to sad music. Not only does it improve your mood, it's also associated with stronger mind wandering, which can enhance your intelligence, creativity, social empathy and emotional processing. 3. Try to nap for 30 minutes daily. It reduces stress, regenerates damaged brain cells and makes your brain bigger. One study suggests that nappers' brains are 15 cubic centimetres larger.

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