Corrie Star ‘confirms’ Permanent Exit After 22 Years As Co-star Says ‘I Miss You’

Coronation Street icon Kate Ford left the cobbles of Weatherfield as her character Tracy Barlow jetted off to Spain to be with her footballer lover Tommy Orpington

After her character left for Spain, a Coronation Street legend appears to have “confirmed” her exit from the ITV serial opera.

After cheating on her husband Steve McDonald, Kate Ford, who has been playing Tracy Barlow since 2002, left for a new life this week with her footballer lover Tommy Orpington. This was her 22nd year on the cobbles. However, Tracy has been a part of the show for a lot longer—since 1977, she has been portrayed by four different actresses.

Kate appears to have vanished permanently, as evidenced by a photograph she posted to Instagram on a rainy day. The photo features her smiling up at the camera while donning a black duffel coat spotted with drops of rain. A trace of dark liner around Kate’s eyes and a peachy pink pout completed her understated makeup look, as wisps of her brunette hair escaped the hood.

To complete her look, Kate wore little silver earrings at her lobes and a camel-colored leather bag thrown over one shoulder. She only wrote, “Rain, rain, rain,” as the caption for the photo, but one of her co-stars seemed to infer that Kate hasn’t returned to the set to continue filming.

The cobblestone character Sally Carman wrote, “I miss your face!” along with a series of yellow heart emoticons. Fans are concerned that Kate is permanently gone because the response suggested she hasn’t secretly returned to filming following her character’s departure.

“I hope you return soon, great natural actress. Corrie will not be Corrie without you in it,” wrote one fan. Another voice said, “I hope she hasn’t been gone too long.” “Will miss you so much and it won’t be the same without you, especially with Mary in the flower shop and what a goodbye it was, poor Ken!” exclaimed a third social media user. I wonder if you will return at some point in the future.

Kate gave a subtle nod to her final plotline on her Instagram Stories, posting a picture of a Manchester tram with the location “Orpington,” which is a reference to her on-screen partner, suggesting that she may not be completely leaving Tracy behind.

Supporters immediately saw a plot hole in Tracy’s departure plan, pointing out that she was abandoning her little company without considering who would take over. One admirer commented on X, saying, “Tracy is merely leaving her flower business? So, does Mary own a portion of it?

“So Tracy seems to have forgotten she owns a florist,” said a second. “What’s going to happen with the flower shop then?” another person asked, agreeing.

Regarding those she has left behind, Simon Gregson, star of Steve McDonald, hinted at potential future plots by saying: “Steve could be going through a full-blown midlife crisis. We might see him changing his appearance, going to the gym, and losing weight.” It might be a lot of fun and a wonderful justification for me to alter some things in my actual life.”