ITV are reportedly facing a ‘budget crisis’ amid a number of departures for Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
In the past few months, a variety of stars from both shows have either left the show or are due to leave. Corrie and Emmerdale also both failed to reach the Christmas Day Top 10 for viewing figures.
Rival soap EastEnders managed to make the list – with two outings coming in at 5th and 8th place.
Audiences bid a fond farewell to continuing drama legend Helen Worth over the festive period, when she departed her Gail Platt role after 50 years.
The episode secured just 2.6 million viewers, compared to the BBC soap’s combined 3.98 and 4.39 million.
According to The Sun, cast are fearing what this might mean for their contracts beyond 2025.
‘The cast of Corrie is huge and some aren’t getting enough episodes’ a source told the publication.
‘A few paid per episode are struggling to pay mortgages are having to supplement income with personal appearances and ads on Instagram.
‘A lot of cast members are now on ‘guest contracts’ like Maureen Lipman and Kate Ford.’
Kate’s Tracy McDonald departed for pastures new in Spain with boyfriend Tommy Orpington (Matt Milburn) in April, though has made regular returns since.
Evelyn Plummer has decided to study law at university, with Maureen explaining that she took the decision to temporarily leave so that she could have a ‘gap year’ with husband-to-be David Turner.
The source continued: ‘These are short term, so they can come and go and take extended breaks. The cast have been told they can’t guarantee any contracts beyond the end of 2025.
‘Bosses are trying to use a lot of the younger cast who are on less money so the episodes are cheaper to make. They have a knife-crime storyline coming up featuring the youngsters when one of them will get stabbed.’
Earlier this year, Metro exclusively revealed that Sue Devaney will be bowing out of her Debbie Webster role as part of a dementia storyline, although she is expected to remain with the show for some time.
This morning, it was confirmed Charlotte Jordan has quit the ITV soap as Daisy Midgeley.
Charlotte is the sixth cast member to depart the cobbles in a very short space of time. A few days ago, it was revealed Sue Cleaver is leaving Eileen Grimshaw behind after sporadic appearances across the year.
Meanwhile, Colson Smith just this week confirmed he was being written out as Craig Tinker after four years – on the same day that Luca Toolan’s Mason Radcliffe was killed off on screen.
Over in Emmerdale, Roxy Shahidi (Leyla Harding), Lesley Dunlop (Brenda Walker), Susan Cookson (Wendy Posner), Paula Lane (Ella Forster) are all set to leave the village.
