EastEnders legend Michelle Collins has confirmed she has no plans to return to Coronation Street, despite the daughter of her cobbles character heading back to Weatherfield soon.
Michelle portrayed the role of Stella Price in the ITV soap from 2011-2014. She is the mother of Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) and also Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley), who will return to Corrie soon.
Eva is heading back to her old home to take over as landlady of the Rovers Return, but she isn’t coming alone.
She’ll be accompanied by her beau, Ben Driscoll (Aaron McCusker) and his mother Maggie (Pauline McLynn).
They’ll be accompanied by Eva’s daughter, Susie, and Ben’s two sons.
‘We are beyond thrilled that Eva is returning as the landlady of the Rovers, with her new blended family in tow.
‘The Driscolls do not arrive quietly, so expect big drama, explosive secrets and raucous knees ups galore.’ said Corrie boss Kate Brooks.
‘To have actors of Catherine, Aaron and Pauline’s considerable calibre at the beating heart of this family is absolutely wonderful, and we can’t wait for you to get to know and fall in love with them as much as we have already done. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be an exciting and eventful ride.’
With new faces arriving, much-loved fans of Eva have naturally wondered if her mum Stella will follow her to Coronation Street.
But with Michelle Collins busy in EastEnders as the iconic Cindy Beale, we won’t be seeing Stella in the near future.
‘I don’t think EastEnders would let me go across, would they?’, Michelle told us at this year’s Inside Soap Awards.
‘I know it’s only two and a half hours on the train. Actually that might be quite funny, going from Cindy to Stella in like a day. But no, I don’t think so. I think Cath [Catherine Tyldesley] will do a good job.
She added: ‘She’s running the pub, isn’t she? I shall be watching because I love Cath and she told me she was going back, so I’m very excited for her. It’ll be great. But I don’t think so. I think it might confuse people a bit too much.’
Michelle’s final scenes as Stella saw the character depart for a new life overseas. In 2023, Michelle reprised her role as Cindy Beale, in an episode that confirmed the iconic face had been living undercover and never died in prison.
Life is never quiet for Cindy Beale – she’d find that incredibly boring.
Since being back in Walford, she’s been confronted by her ex George Knight (Colin Salmon) and their two daughters, started an affair with George’s son, was left for dead by Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and in February of this year, she shoved Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) in front of a moving car, which then crashed into the Queen Vic and caused it to explode.
And that’s not even all of the chaos she’s caused!
Michelle is looking forward to what lies ahead for Cindy as we enter the final few months of 2025.
‘I can’t say too much’, she said when asked about the drama Cindy will face.
‘I’ve just got the Christmas scripts and I’m kind of excited. That’s all I can say. Yes, I think she is, and I think that’s what we expect from Cindy.’
