Coronation Street loves to introduce fan favourite couples and then dump them from the show faster than a couple being told to pack their bags from Love Island.
And it has now been a decade since soap fans saw Julia Haworth’s character Claire Peacock leave the cobbles – a year after on-screen husband Ashley Peacock, played by Steven Arnold, had been killed off in the dramatic tram crash.
While both stars have been off the street for 10 years or more, both have been keeping busy and are enjoying something of a renaissance away from the long-running ITV soap.
While she bowed out of the soap in 2011, it was in 2003 that 42-year-old Julia joined Coronation Street as Claire Casey – who was a nanny to Ashley’s son, Joshua.
The mousy haired carer grew close to Ashley and the pair tied-the-knot on Christmas Day in 2004 – while their marriage was rocked over the years by affairs and dangerous disasters.
Julia has since gone on to feature in hit E! Drama The Royals, cult BBC medical drama Doctors, and tense ITV drama The Bay.
While this year she had a role in an episode of long-running BBC period drama Call The Midwife.
Married to accountant Jon Wormald in 2006, Julia has two daughters aged 13 and eight.
The TV star has become a patron for UK–based Epidermolysis bullosa charity DEBRA after being moved by a documentary about the disease called The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off which aired on Channel 4 in 2004.
Julia said: “As a parent, all you want to do when your child is poorly is give them a big squeeze and let them know that everything will be ok.
"But if you have a child with EB, you can't do that.
"Despite this, the parents I have met are so incredible and so strong.”
Meanwhile, Steven has been building up a huge CV of work since he quit the cobbles in 2010 – when his character Ashley was killed off in the tram accident that marked the 50th anniversary of the soap.
The 46-year-old star has been involved in an impressive 69 acting projects since quitting the soap 11 years ago.
He featured in the 2011 series of Dancing On Ice and will soon be seen in low-budget Brit flick Womble alongside Johnny Vegas and Bruce Jones.
While last year, the on-screen husband and wife were reunited as Ashley and Julia teamed up to tackle questions together on Pointless Celebrities.
Steven explained on an episode of Lorraine, hosted by Gaby Roslin, in 2016 that he misses playing Ashley on Corrie.
He said: “I do, he’ll always have a special place in my heart as I played him for such a long time.
“There’s elements that you miss but you can still put him in characters that you play here and there.”
