Charlie De Melo departed Coronation Street in dramatic fashion this week.
The 32-year-old has played Imran Habeen on the Cobbles since 2017. The character has been locked in a vicious custody battle with Abi Martin over custody of their baby son, Alfie.
However, Imran's turbulent time on the Cobbles came to an end on Wednesday when he was in a car crash alongside his wife, Toyah Battersby. Imran saved his wife from the wreckage, but collapsed and died due to his injuries.
READ MORE: ITV Coronation Street Charlie De Melo makes 'upsetting' admission as he exits soap
Charlie revealed he had planned to quit the show two years ago, but his exit was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. He added: "I kind of made the decision to move on. I was ready to draw a line under my time in Manchester and say it was a worthy but failed experience to have made this big move and to have joined a job like this. But that’s when covid struck."
"So the decision kind of got taken out of my hands so it meant just by default that it was the sensible choice to stay and [then] the personal life got cleared up a bit and the camaraderie was so strong to try and keep the ship afloat and the stuff I was being put in the middle of with the storyline with Ian Bartholomew [Geoff Metcalfe] and Shelley King [Yasmeen Metcalfe] then meeting and working with Millie Gibson [Kelly Neelan] and having much more to do with Georgia, it just meant that the subsequent two years since have been such a joy."
Away from the Cobbles, Charlie's life is fortunately less dramatic than his on-screen counterpart. According to the M.E.N, he dated his co-star Nicola Thorp in 2018.
Nicola played Pat Phelan's daughter, Nicola Rubenstein, on the soap from 2017 - 2019 and she regularly appears as a commentator on This Morning. The two posed with each other on the red carpet during their relationship before they split after 10 months.
Before he arrived on Weatherfield, Charlie acted in rival soap EastEnders as police officer Jaz Jones. He joined the cast of Coronation Street soon after his exit, but vowed to never act in a soap again after Corrie.
He said: "I am ambitious but I’m also sort of directionless. It would be a shorter list to say what I don’t want to do. I by no means mean this to sound disparaging but the main thing is to not do another job like this [Corrie]."
However, he also admitted it was "upsetting" when he realised he would no longer be working alongside his co-stars. He said: "The experience I’ve had here is incomparable and to try and match it by going to another place like this, it would be diminished returns.
"I have settled into the fact and come to terms with the fact that chances are I probably never will work with Georgia again, Millie again, Jane again, Ben [Price - Nick Tilsley] again, all of these wonderful actors I’ve had the joy of working with, in such close proximity and with such frequency. To realise that is upsetting."
The sentiment was echoed by his co-stars as Charlie's onscreen wife, played by George Taylor, said she was heartbroken the actor was departing. She said: "You know what it's like I absolutely adore him, he has been a dream, and we have been together on the show on and off for three and a half years. But I'd say the last year since we did all the stuff with Seb's trial where Kelly was on trial for murder, we have been pretty consistently busy, and most of our stuff has been together.
"It has just been a joy, he is so funny we laugh a lot, but he is one of the most supportive people I have ever worked with. Even now, he is still texting, last night, he knew I had a big day, he was asking, 'How did the day go, are you ok, I am sure you did amazing', and he is such a team player.
"And I mean, look at him, there [are] no complaints there either, he is beautiful, but I am so excited to see what he does next. I just think the opportunities are going to be endless for him he is going to fly."
Coronation Street airs 8pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ITV and ITVHub
Receive newsletters with the biggest and breaking TV and showbiz news by signing up here
Coronation Street's Millie Gibson pens loving tribute to Charlie De Melo after exit
Jet2 apologise as kids in tears after being barred from flight at Manchester airport
