Coronation Street actor Colson Smith has said he will miss the ITV soap “forever” after his character died in Wednesday’s episode.
The 26-year-old, who has played police officer Craig Tinker on the show for 14 years, saw his character die after being beaten with a baseball bat by Mick Michaelis (Joe Layton), after he tried to arrest him.
Speaking on ITV’s This Morning, Smith said of his departure: “It literally is just working at Coronation Street (that I’ll miss the most) and calling that place my work.
“And it was weird, because when I got asked about highlights, I was trying to think of some of the things we’ve done, and I’ve done some mad things, I’ve met the (late) Queen, and I’ve done all this stuff, but it’s the simple stuff.
“Like, on a summer’s day at Corrie, we get an ice cream van, with all your mates and sit outside in the car park and the cast, the crew, the production team, the security staff, the cleaners, we’re all so tight there, so sitting out in the summer having an ice cream with your mates, they’re kind of the best days.
“It’s that craic, that’s the stuff that I won’t get at any other job, and that’s the stuff that I’ll miss forever.”
Smith said he found out he was leaving the soap on the eve of Gail Platt actress Helen Worth’s last day on set, and was worried he would ruin it by announcing his own departure.
The actor told This Morning: “I found out on a night, and then I went back in the next day, and it was Helen Worth who played Gail Platt’s last day.
“So I’ve gone in and I’m like, I’m about to ruin Helen’s last day, I can’t do this, do I keep it a secret? And then by the time I got into work, everyone knew, and it was like Colson had died.
“I walked into the green room and kind of just awkwardly laughed, and Lucy Fallon was heavily pregnant at the time, and she burst into tears, Julia Goulding was crying all day.
“I felt for Jack (P Shepherd) and Ben (Price), they were losing their (on screen) mum, and they’d found out that their mate was going, it was just, it was a real rollercoaster of emotions, and it had been all the way through.
“And then the last day, Andy Whyment was just crying, he couldn’t even park his car straight in the morning.”
Smith will appear for the last time in Friday’s episode as doctors pull a sheet over his deceased character’s body.
Asked what he would be doing next, the actor said: “It’s very bizarre leaving something you’ve done for so long, because I think it starts the question, ‘who’s Colson? What does he want to do?’.
“So I’ve been enjoying sitting in the garden, but I know I want to do more work as myself, I love telly, I’ve found this is my home.
“So I want to spend more time in telly, want to do more stuff as Colson, so we shall see what happens, and I’ll be happy with whatever, more podcasting, got a couple of live shows coming up there, more presenting stuff, more audio stuff, that’s the stuff I love, so watch this space.”
