Mollie Gallagher hoping for call back to Coronation Street after ‘very sad’ decision

We’re devastated, you’re devastated, everyone is devastated to be losing Coronation Street’s goth Queen, Nina Lucas, as she heads to Whitby for a new job in an art gallery.

But why is she going?!

‘Nina is kind of at a point in her life where she just feels like everything is a bit mundane, and nothing is really going on, explained Mollie Gallagher.

‘She’s still working at the cafe, but she hasn’t continued with any of her fashion projects. She sees her friends moving on, and feels like everyone is moving forward except her.’

Enter Nina’s friend, who offered her a lifeline: ‘Then, she has this conversation with friends, and one of them is going to these cool gigs and really living life.

‘She wishes she had something like that going on and the friend mentioned a job opportunity at an art gallery. She went for it, and then she got the job. It feels like the right thing to do.’

How does she feel about Nina’s exit story? ‘It feels true to her character. It is a really positive move for Nina, there is no tragedy and she was able to go off happily to this new life. She is sad to leave Roy and her friends but she knows it is the right thing to do.’

Of course, the off-screen reason for Nina heading off for pastures new is down to Mollie landing a role in the stage adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs.

‘It was a casting call,’ said Mollie on how the role came about.

‘When they got in touch, I thought it was a great opportunity to tape for a great casting director and Nikolai Foster, who is obviously big in the theatre world.

‘I didn’t expect to get the part; I just thought it would be a good experience.’

Obviously, she did land the part, though, leaving her with a very difficult decision.

‘I would have loved to have done both as I wasn’t actively looking to leave Corrie, but it wasn’t feasible and I suddenly had a big decision to make.

‘As an actor, it’s never easy to get a job, and when an opportunity comes your way, it’s hard to turn down because you never know if it will come again.’

Just as Nina has so often turned to Roy Cropper, Mollie turned to David Neilson with her dilemma: ‘I had spoken to him about it anyway, and he told me to go with my gut.

‘He’s an intuitive person, and he agreed it was the right thing to do.

‘I didn’t want to leave, so it was a difficult decision but he said I had to do what I felt was right for me.’

Mollie went on to speak about her last few months filming for Corrie: ‘It was obviously very sad, but everything was happening so quickly.

‘I’m not the kind of person who usually compartmentalises things, everything in my life usually happens at once, but for the first time, I actually did put things into compartments.

‘I had to, otherwise, I’d be too emotional.

‘Three days after my last day at Corrie, I was moving to Leicester. I just had to focus so I wouldn’t be crying in rehearsals at my new job!’

You’ve heard about it countless times: an actor slyly pinching a piece of costume as a memento when they leave a role. Did Mollie follow the age-old tradition?

‘I kept her coat, my favourite coat of hers, but I hope it isn’t the end of Nina and I didn’t want to take her best things in case I ever get a call back.

‘I don’t have any mementos other than Nina herself.

‘I felt like the way I developed Nina, a part of her came into me, and I think that’s what happens when you play a character for a long time. You genuinely change.’