Coronation Street star Channique Sterling Brown has broken her silence as she confirmed rumours of her exit from the long-running show.
Reports emerged that the actress was preparing to bow out of the ITV soap on Thursday (October 2), three years after she made her debut on the cobbles as Dee-Dee Bailey.
She arrived in 2022 as the much-talked-about Diane, aka Dee-Dee, the daughter of Aggie and Ed Bailey, who had arrived in 2019 as the first regular Black family on the show.
But she’ll soon be heading for pastures new. Sharing a string of pictures of herself playing Dee-Dee, Channique wrote on Instagram: “After three whirlwind years of Dee-Dee Bailey, I’ve decided to say farewell to the cobbles.
“Bittersweet to be saying goodbye, but I am so excited for pastures new and enjoying the end of playing Princess Diana and her many expressions.”
And fans said they were gutted. @collajen8 said: “Noooooooooo!!! I’m so so so sad! Why do you have to go?” @italktelly wrote: “So sad to see you go! You’ve brought so much to Corrie and will be missed. Can’t wait to see what’s next for you though!”
@corrie_emmerdale.fan commented: “Nooooo you will be missed be many I love deedee she’s a really bubbly character and deserved all the love and happiness.” @swarlas.dales added: “You will be so missed. Thank you for the wonderful time as Dee Dee.”
It comes after another dramatic year for the character, after Dee-Dee almost died during the birth of her first child. The lawyer fell pregnant with her evil ex-fiance Joel Deering’s baby before his shock murder last year.
After discovering that behind the smart suit he was hiding a penchant for younger, underprivileged girls – which linked him to a troubled Lauren Bolton who he went on to groom – Dee-Dee called off their engagement and set about bringing him down with the help of DS Lisa Swain.
However, it was no surprise when Joel disappeared. But when his body was found following an apparent suicide, the police soon discovered that someone had in fact murdered Joel.
It was confirmed he’d been killed with a heavy weapon before entering the water and several Weatherfield residents were put in the frame – Dee-Dee, her father Ed, her uncle Ronnie, Mason Radcliffe, Lisa, Carla Connor, DC Kit Green and finally Max Turner and Lauren Bolton.
It was then revealed that in an eventful night for Joel, after Ronnie and Ed went after him with a crowbar, he was attacked by scorned ex Dee-Dee, threatened by Kit and pushed into the river by Max. But not before Lauren had delivered the killer blow amidst their train track confrontation.
Keeping her pregnancy a secret, Dee-Dee battled with whether to keep her unborn child and ended up confiding in Sarah Platt. But when Lauren Bolton’s son, Frankie, who was also Joel’s child, became ill, it became apparent that Dee-Dee’s unborn child could be the one to save him and she eventually agreed to continue with the pregnancy to help Frankie, but would be giving up her child for adoption after the birth.
Dee-Dee’s brother, James, has since returned to Weatherfield, having been spoken to by their dad, as offered to adopt his niece with his partner, Danny. Dee-Dee has been unsure about the idea but was left handing her brother her baby girl after her dramatic arrival.
While she was seen by a nurse, Dee-Dee’s pain wasn’t taken seriously due to the staff in the ward being overworked. But her high blood pressure was noted and it was later revealed, as she was rushed back to the hospital after her waters broke, that she had pre-eclampsia and the baby needed to arrive immediately.
After her daughter’s birth, Dee-Dee still shared her concerns of feeling unwell, which were again dismissed, and after falling unconscious, with doctors battling to save her, the lawyer confirmed doctors had to perform an emergency hysterectomy to save her life, and that she will now not be able to carry any more children.
Corrie fans have since watched Dee-Dee face both the mental and physical recovery of what she went through and she has since decided to not go through with baby Laila’s adoption, agreeing to co-parent her with James.
