Coronation Street star Maureen Lipman has confirmed that she is stepping back as a full-time cast member on the ITV soap.

The actor has played Tyrone Dobbs’ grandmother Evelyn Plummer since 2018, and although she isn’t leaving the soap, she is taking a break and then scaling

back her commitments.

Speaking to The Sun, Lipman explained that she wanted to spend more time with her other half David Turner, who she recently became engaged to after she

proposed to him.

“I’ll be absent for a while and then coming back,” she said.

“I’m not going to die, but then I’ll be in and out of it because I want to have a bit of a life. David and I are thinking of having a bit of a gap year.”

The storyline that will kick off her break will feature Evelyn getting accepted for a university course, studying law.

Unsurprisingly, it’s her friend Roy Cropper who is a big factor in that change, with Lipman stating: “Roy sees potential in Evelyn, he sees that she’s more than just a pretty face.

“But he’s sort of the architect of what happens to me over the next few months.”

The actor added that the idea of a spin-off series focusing on Evelyn at university would be an ideal outcome. She also stated that once she’s no longer a Corrie full-timer, she intends to go for some new roles.

Meanwhile, co-star Helen Worth is making her permanent exit as Gail Rodwell on Christmas Day, with Corrie returning to an hourlong December 25 special after only getting a 30-minute slot last year.