Coronation Street‘s Colson Smith received a sweet phone call from a show legend amid his departure.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the star would be leaving the cobbles as Craig Tinker after 14 years in the role.

Speaking about the aftermath of the news going public, Colson revealed that Rita Tanner actor Barbara Knox contacted him.

“When everyone found out I was leaving, I had one conversation which I was really surprised by, which was a phone call from a withheld number,” he said on the On the Sofa podcast.

Confirming that it was from Barbara, Colson admitted he “was taken aback quite a bit”, before sharing what she told him.

“She said, ‘People come and go all the time… and there’s some people who are there who love the show. You’re one of those people and I just want to say thank you for all the time that I’ve spent with you and the way that you treat me’.

“And I was like, ‘I appreciated this phone call a lot’. And then she basically said, ‘Good luck. I really hope that something comes for you’,” he added.

Barbara then told him to “keep in touch through the little one”, Colson quipping that it was referring to his co-star Jack P Shepherd (David Platt).

It comes after Colson recently opened up about why Craig was axed from Corrie, admitting on the podcast that he had a feeling beforehand that it was coming.

Detailing his meeting with producer Kate Brooks, the star said: “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.”