Beverley Callard is leaving the soap role that has kept her on our screens since 1989 - as Coronation Street icon Liz Mcdonald.
The 62-year-old will appear until summer 2020 and the actress assures that Liz will leave with "one hell of a bang".
A veteran of the award-winning soap, Callard has told OK! Magazine why she's leaving after three decades on the street.
She will star in The Thunder Girls, a comedy play about four 50-plus women which received rave reviews during its preview run in Manchester last September.
"There’s very little work in our industry for women over 50, but I’m 62 and recently I was doing three jobs at once," said the actress who last year, alongside Corrie, starred in The Thunder Girls as well as The Rocky Horror Show.
"It made me realise how I was privileged to have the opportunity to do so when so many women my age no longer get the chance.
"I’m sick of ageism in the industry. Although I’ve had to leave the safety net of being in Coronation Street to do this, I’m hoping that ageist bosses, of which there are many, take note of how successful this show is and it starts the ball rolling on helping other women my age, get the roles they still deserve."
Watch a clip from a recent episode of Corrie filmed in North Wales
The actress joined Coronation Street in 1989 with her on-screen husband Jim, and twin sons Steve and Andy.
The McDonalds have been through their fair share of dramatic storylines in the past - domestic abuse, the death of baby Hannah and last Christmas Liz was left for dead by Jenny Connor in a hit and run.
