Coronation Street‘s Colson Smith has revealed why Craig Tinker was axed from the soap.

The star announced earlier this week that he will be departing the role after 14 years, though has explained the reasons behind his exit in a new interview.

Speaking on his On the Sofa podcast with co-star Ben Price and Jack P Shepherd, Colson recalled his meeting in October with Corrie producer Kate Brooks, admitting he had a feeling beforehand that he was being written out.

“She looked at me and said, ‘Colson, this is going to be a really hard conversation’,” he shared. “I said, ‘I know that, I know. So let’s go and have it’.”

“I knew in my head I had to let Kate speak, because I didn’t want to go in and say, ‘Yeah, I know, I get it, it’s cool’. So I basically sat and listened to everything Kate had said,” Colson continued, before elaborating on how Craig’s increasing isolation paved the way for his departure.

“It was everything I already knew about how Craig as a character in this show had become very isolated. In the past three years, he’s gone through: his girlfriend’s left the show, his mum’s left the show. He doesn’t have any family. The rat’s dead.”

The star agreed that it was “completely” the nature of the show, noting: “I joined the show as an 11-year-old who was meant to be there for two episodes, non-speaking, and I leave as a 26-year-old, having done 750 episodes, having achieved so much, had a life that that show has given me.”

He added: “[Kate] said, ‘You’re very understanding’. I said, ‘I’ve been here since I was a kid, I’ve seen it happen. I know that building, I know that show’.”

During the chat, Colson also explained why he felt the axe was coming beforehand, saying he “wasn’t feeling confident” about his yearly contract renewal, especially as “the tide had changed” for Craig.

“Start of October I said to Ben and I said to my mum, ‘I just don’t feel confident this renewal’s coming this time round’,” he said.

The actor further revealed that Ben and Jack were supportive as he went into his meeting with Kate, with the pair even waiting in the green room with him.

“The beauty of me not being blindsided by it was I had [Jack and Ben] there,” Colson added.