Coronation Street star returns to give Eileen Grimshaw a 'perfect' soap exit

Coronation Street is getting ready to mark the end of an era as a cobbles legend waves Weatherfield goodbye after 25 years.

And although the soap is losing the icon that is Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver), a familiar face will be returning next week to help create her 'perfect' exit storyline.

Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) is set to return to the cobbles after years away from the UK with his arrival a huge surprise to his mum.

Next week, Jason brings more surprises when he suggests that Eileen move to Thailand with him. Not only that, but he wants her to be his business partner.

Touched by the offer, Eileen actually turns it down, insisting that George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley) would never make the move to Thailand.

‘I think it was then that she realized, “What do I have? What am I… no, why can’t I?” She’s very fond of George. She has love for George, but she knows she’s settling.

‘For many people, that would be an amazing opportunity, to go to almost the other side of the world, and with the safety blanket of her son being there, go and be with him for a while,’ actress Sue Cleaver explained.

‘She’s been with Todd for a long time, and she doesn’t have anything to lose really apart from that.’

However, George is taken aback when Jason reveals what Eileen said.

Later, he heads to the cab office and tells Eileen he’s booked them a holiday to Thailand set to leave the next day, so that they can trial living there. How will she react?

The next day, George confides in Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) that he’s worried about his relationship with Eileen, and it becomes clear that Steve knows more than he’s letting on.

Eileen later tells Steve and Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) that she’s going to accept Jason’s offer, invest in his bar and move to Thailand.

Will George be joining them, or will it be a sad goodbye?

For actress Sue, who came up with the idea for Ryan Thomas to reprise his role as Jason for her exit storyline, this was the perfect ending for the character.

‘I said very much that I would like her to go off to pastures new, to kind of mirror what I’m doing in a sense. And I just think it’s time for a change. So it was perfect.

‘I’m so happy with the ending, and I was so humbled by it and the way it had been written and what it is. I felt very grateful to have such a wonderful ending written. It seemed very, very apt.’

Speaking about Ryan’s return to the role, Sue said: ‘Ryan was there from the start, and [Jason] was inconveniently living in Thailand, and it wouldn’t be too far of a jump to expect that if Eileen was going to make a leap, that she would involve her son.

‘And so when I decided to leave over a year ago, I rang Ryan, and I said, “Ryan, I’m going to tell them that I’m going, and if they ask me about exits, I’d really like to say that you’d come back and take me out, but I don’t know whether they’d go for it or not.”

'And he just went, “Oh my gosh, of course, I would,” which was so lovely for me.

‘And it was just so nice to have him back and filming those final scenes with him. It just felt like I’d come full circle really.’

Jason’s offer of a new start in Thailand really gets Eileen thinking about what she wants out of life as she debates whether or not to accept.

‘Everybody’s always come before her. She’s looked after so many people, and is still looking after so many people, she’s really neglected her own needs in a way,’ actress Sue Cleaver explained.

‘That’s what she’s thinking about. It’s like, “What have I done with my life? Where am I? You know, what do I want? What’s out there?” So I just think she’s reached that stage in her life.’

This article originally appeared on Metro.co.uk.