Corrie legend Sue Devaney hints at REAL reason for her shock axe amid fan fury – and why she’s fearful for the future

WHEN Sue Devaney had Coronation Street come knocking on her door in 2020 – 34 years after she first appeared on the soap – she thought she had a job for life.

But seven years on and the 59-year-old was given the news that no Corrie star wants to hear – she was being killed off and her dreams of retiring on the soap went up in smoke.

Now as she gears up to tackle the tricky job market once again, the devastated star told us she is still coming to terms with her upcoming exit – 34 years after she first made her debut on the show.

“I don’t know why, I don’t,” she said of her axing. “Well, I do know why. I mean, they’ve offered me this story that means that she’s not gonna be around forever. And you think, well, ‘what’s the alternative?’

In a candid interview, she admitted she has never found it easy to land jobs and has been left fearful for her future.

Sue shared: “And I think, for me, it’s really difficult, isn’t it? Because as a freelance actor, all I’ve known, all my life from being 14.

“And all I’ve known is just auditioning, getting a job, going doing it. I’ve never been that fortunate, where I’ve kind of gone: ‘Oh, I’ve got three jobs. Which one do I want to do? I’ve just gone a job’s come up. I’ll do it. I’ve got the audition, go for the part, I’ve got it. I do it.

“And whatever that is, you know, I never tie myself down to one style of acting. I like doing Shakespeare, I like doing comedy, I like doing straight, I like doing theatre, I like doing TV. And that’s been my life.

“But because I started my career, really on Corrie. When I came I was 16. Coming back to Corrie, I thought: ‘This is nice. I could end my career on Corrie, and I’d be very happy.’

“To just come into work, be with my mates, have that stability. Because as an actor, you never have stability. And I thought, isn’t that lovely?

“So then, the producer [Kate Brooks] said: ‘We’ve got this story for you, Sue.’

“And I thought, OK, OK. I’m an actor. I want to act. And that this story can take me for two and a half, three years. It is the end. But everything comes to an end.”

She was just 16 in 1984 when she first spent a year as Kevin Webster’s trouble-maker younger sister, Debbie.

She then reprised the role in 2019, becoming one of the soap’s best loved characters.

When the news broke that Sue’s character Debbie would develop young-onset dementia in a devastating storyline that would see her lose her life, viewers were outraged.

The show was besieged with fan fury with a petition launched and a backlash that took bosses by surprise.

She will be one of many names to leave the programme alongside Colson Smith, Luca Toolan, Shelley King, Charlotte Jordan, Sue Cleaver, Daniel Brocklebank, Helen Worth, Paddy Bever and Katy Cavanagh during ongoing issues within the soap.

Sue was one of the show’s last standing 50 something women who appeared in its heyday – and fans were not happy.

Last year Jenny Bradley star Sally Ann Matthews was given the boot almost 40 years after her first appearance as the Rovers landlady.

Sue understands the backlash: “I know, I know. And you think back to olden days when they had the Ina Sharples character.

“My sister sent me an old clip, black and white, and it was all live then, wasn’t it? Ina Sharples in hospital. Oh, my gosh, it’s so funny.

“But they all look, like, women of a certain age. Which you don’t see anymore, do you? You have to be so young these days. Don’t you?”

But for Sue, the axing wasn’t about her – it was about the character and all the women she had based her on.

“Debbie has come from my upbringing,” she explained.

“The strong women in my life from Rochdale. You know, my nana, Jesse Taylor, all her sayings are put in: ‘Oh, look at you standing there, like cheese at fourpence’. They’re all mine. And, you know, I think that it’s the strong women that I grew up with.

“They love Debbie, but they love my mum, they love my nan, they love all me friends, you know.”

Over the last few years Corrie has come under fire for its focus on dark storylines with grooming, sexual abuse and murder dominating with police taking centre stage.

Sue’s impeccable comic timing and performance has been a balance to that but with her exit incoming, fans are concerned that even Debbie’s scene will become part of the dark stories – but Sue says that’s long off yet.

“I think for Debbie, it’s gonna be more fun than anything else at the minute,” she said

“She’s been given this terminal illness, and she’s determined to make the best of every day. So, although the illness is progressing and stuff, she’s just gonna make the most of the time that she’s got.

“She wants to spend it with her girlfriends, her loved ones, her family.”

Her character is not due to exit the soap until 2027, but asked about her plans for the future after she finishes on Corrie next year – Sue insists she hasn’t thought that far ahead.

“You know what? I have no idea,” she said.

“I have no idea, because I think, for me, I just like to keep it in the day. And as an actor I’m probably gonna be here until next year. So you’ve got a year’s work. Well, for any actor, that’s amazing. So it’s like, if somebody said, like, when I were doing, like, theatre, or you’ve got a theatre job for a year, you don’t think, oh, I’m gonna think about after that. I know it’s coming to an end, but you just think it’s a year. What happens after a year?

“I don’t know what I’m doing after I’ve done where I am. Nobody knows, we just have to make the best of every day, don’t we?

“But sometimes, I do sit on the set now, like, this morning. I sat on the set with all my girlfriends. I sat on the set this morning with all my girlfriends, you know, and Sally Dynevor, Jodie Prenger, and Amy Robbins, and I just thought, ‘Oh, I’ll really miss this.’”