ITV Coronation star returning to soap after quitting

Dame Maureen Lipman, who plays Evelyn Plummer, took a break from the ITV soap after becoming “worn out” by her character’s exit story.

Speaking on Loose Women in May, she said: “They’ve really put me through it the last few weeks. I’ve had seven scenes to learn a day.

“The last shot [from] last night, I literally laid on the floor and said: ‘I can’t go on.’”

Dame Maureen Lipman as Evelyn Plummer on Coronation Street (Image: ITV)

However, Maureen was spotted with co-stars of the soap, including new addition Claire Sweeney, with The Sun reporting that she is set to return to Coronation Street.

Claire, who will play Tyrone Dobb's mum, admitted she was thrilled to join the popular ITV soap opera and was thankful her career is going from strength to strength after her Brookside stint.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said: "After I left Brookside and did Celebrity Big Brother, more people knew me as Claire and not Lindsey Corkhill. That was a great time and it's the first reality TV show of its kind so it was such a big deal.

“But doing all of those glamorous roles over the years, Cassie, my character in Corrie, isn't very glamorous."

She added: “I spent years in Brookside so I spent years not looking pretty.

"Tyrone was always led to believe Jackie was his mum and she wasn't. He was then told his mum was dead.

“That's the twist, I turn up to the cobbles with a few problems, a few major problems, and I'll leave it there!"