Coronation Street bosses have been accused of “doing Ellie Leach dirty” after her Strictly Come Dancing debut on Saturday night (September 23). The actress played Faye Windass on the ITV soap after 12 years.
But she was reportedly axed by bosses earlier this year after a succession of misery-inducing storylines. Faye had a succession of misery about her life and the last year consisted of a lengthy prison sentence.
She was one of Corrie’s youngest ever mothers, later giving up daughter Miley to the father’s family. She was sexually assaulted by boss Ray Crosby and left traumatised.
Her attempt at revenge left Adam Barlow fighting for his life after she accidentally hit him instead. She went to prison for the attack and broke up with policeman boyfriend Craig Tinker.
When she was released she reunited with him before accidentally killing a man and convincing Craig to cover it up for her. Faye then went into early menopause and had to come to terms with the fact she would never have any other biological children.
Ellie Leach shines on Strictly after Coronation Street exit
That saw her hastily reunited with Miley and ex Jackson, before leaving Weatherfield for a new life in Slough. It’s safe to say there was not much joy in Faye’s life.
And that is a total departure from Ellie’s fun-packed, energetic and near-flawless Strictly debut. She impressed the judges and viewers and landed joint second on the leaderboard.
And now fans have accused Coronation Street bosses of wasting Ellie’s talents. One said: “That showed that they did her dirty at #Corrie. Why’d they make Faye so miserable when Ellie’s fun IRL?”
A second said: “Tbh it was just nice to see Ellie smile after playing the most miserable character on earth for the last 15 years on #corrie . She did brilliantly!”
“Seriously, where was this Faye on Corrie?” asked another. “Ellie Leach has a brilliantly fun personality. She should have totally thrown a diva strop whenever they made her character more miserable than Argus Filch from Harry Potter.”
Another said: “I was floored by Ellie!”
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A fifth said: “Wow Ellie. It’s week 1. Absolutely brilliant. Lots of energy… Floored!”
And another said: “Ellie…WOW I was not expecting her to be that good! Potential dark horse I think! Biggest surprise so far!”
Coronation Street usually airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV. Strictly returns next Saturday (September 30) at 6.20pm.
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