Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street star Mollie Gallagher has expressed hope that she can reprise her role as Nina Lucas in the future, speaking ahead of the airing of her final scenes on the ITV soap.
It was announced in June that Gallagher’s seven-year stint in Weatherfield would be coming to an end, with her exit scenes set to air on Sunday (30 August). Despite the departure, Gallagher has left the door open for a return in the future.
ITV
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In fact, the star is quite eager to make a comeback at some point and even has some keepsakes from her time, sharing: “I kept my favourite coat of hers. I hope it isn’t the end of Nina, and I didn’t want to take her best things in case I ever get a call back.”
“I don’t have any mementos other than Nina herself. I felt like the way I developed Nina, a part of her came into me, and I think that’s what happens when you play a character for a long time. You genuinely change,” she explained.
It remains to be seen how Gallagher’s exit scenes will play out, but she did tease that it would be a “casual” affair involving characters such as Abi Webster, George Shuttleworth and Todd Grimshaw among others.
“The exit feels true to her character,” said Gallagher. “It is a really positive move for Nina; there is no tragedy, and she was able to go off happily to this new life. She is sad to leave Roy and her friends, but she knows it is the right thing to do.”
“The last scene I filmed was actually just a really nice, casual scene,” she noted. “I had two lines, and it was with Sally Carman, Tony Maudsley, Gareth Pierce and a few others. There were quite a lot of people there. It was a nice goodbye.”
Of course, Nina’s most notable relationship in Weatherfield was with David Neilson’s Roy Cropper, whom she works with at Roy’s Rolls. Prior to her exit, Gallagher spoke with her co-star and got some friendly advice.
ITV
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“I had spoken to David about it anyway, and he told me to go with my gut,” she recalled. “He’s an intuitive person, and he agreed that it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to leave, so it was a difficult decision, but he said I had to do what I felt was right for me.”
Gallagher has already landed a new role following her departure: She’s set to star alongside John Partridge and Oliver Farnworth in a theatre production of The Silence of the Lambs.
Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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