Coronation Street’s Channique Sterling Brown has announced her exit from the soap after three years. The actress first arrived as Dee Dee Bailey in 2022 and has been part of some of the cobbles’ most iconic and memorable storylines. Most recently, her character suffered a traumatic birth and decided to make a formal complaint to the hospital.
Dee Dee was also caught up in the whirlwind storyline with Joel Dearing. She ended his terrifying reign of terror, which saw Lauren Bolton flee the street. In a gripping whodunnit storyline, Dee-Dee later broke down in tears to her dad Ed as she confessed she killed Joel after finding out he was about to do a runner.
Actress Channique Sterling Brown recently confirmed the news she would be departing from her role. She took to Instagram to share a roundup of snaps from her time on the cobbles.
She captioned the post with the statement: “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.”
Hundreds of soap fans took to the comments to send their support over the actress’ decision. On Instagram, one fan said: “You have got such a bright future ahead of you, thank you for bringing us the cobbles princess, we love you!!”
A second wrote: “Nooooo you will be missed be many I love Dee Dee she’s a really bubbly character and deserved all the love and happiness.”
A third also added: “I commented when you first started that everyone needs a Dee Dee as a friend so I’m gutted to hear you’re/she’s leaving. She’s an integral character and will be so missed!”
The lawyer’s life on the cobbles has been far from peaceful over the years. After her character made a formal complaint to the hospital, Channique was flooded with support from fans.
Speaking on the Off-Script podcast, Channique said: “I’m really blown away by the response to this story. People have been so engaged and so positive. I was nervous about it, it’s a big story to tell, it’s a complicated story to tell.
“For me, I’ve never given birth so a big thing for me was honouring mothers and doing that well. Also honouring our NHS, they are understaffed overstretched and that’s obviously a factor, but I think also telling the story that does directly affect the black community was important as well.
“It’s been great to see people engaging in conversations. I’ve had so many mothers sending me messages and sharing their stories. Also healthcare workers sharing their thoughts on it.
“It’s been really great and the main thing was we wanted people to take pause and maybe have a conversation and that seems to be what is happening so I’m really really pleased.”
Channique joins the long list of stars to say goodbye to the soap this year. Earlier this year, Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) exited the street to get away from the whirlwind drama involving her ex partner Daniel Osbourne. Daisy was heartbroken after losing her baby when she was hit by a car.
Other stars who have left the soap to start fresh this year include Shelley King (Yasmeen Nazir), Sue Cleaver (Eileen Grimshaw) and Colson Smith (Craig Tinker). It has also been confirmed that Daniel Brocklebank (Billy Mayhew) and Sue Devaney (Debbie Webster) will be departing their roles on the cobbles.