Coronation Street star breaks silence on sudden exit as he leaves after six months

There's an exit looming on , and now departing actor Joe Layton has spoken out first the first time about it all.

After his abrupt exit announcement, via news reports, shocked viewers, Joe has cleared up the truth about him leaving the show this summer. Joe had only joined as villain Mick Michaelis earlier this year, with the arrivals teased by soap boss Kate Brooks to The in December.

Just weeks ago the soap confirmed Mick and his wife Lou would be leaving the ITV soap this summer as part of an explosive storyline. The quick departures had always been planned, with the characters only brought in for a particular storyline.

That said fans were baffled by false reports of the exits being a "shock" and suggestions they were unplanned - amid the couple sparking a backlash with viewers. Viewers had questioned whether the characters had been axed, but now Joe has told The Mirror what really happened, clearing up the rumours.

Joe revealed he knew from before he even landed the role on Corrie that he wouldn't be there for long. But Joe explained this made the role all the more appearing, as he explained his decision to accept a short-term acting job.

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Addressing the claims about his sudden exit and denying it was a shock for anyone, he told us: "I knew about it from when the casting came through from my agent, so even for the prep for the tape you take a dive into the psychology of him, how you inhabit these kind of head spaces. I think for me, the opportunity to step into Corrie for six months with a start and a finish point is a real gift.

"A lot of people step in and they’re on a year contract or six months with a view to more and you’re getting the scripts as they come and working out how you slot in, whereas it was kind of a gift for me to know ‘you start here, and you finish here.’ I sat and had a Zoom call with Kate Brooks the producer and she walked me through all of it and my first reaction was ‘how are we going to cram all that into six months?’

"But then I started working on Corrie and realised how fast it moves. That leads me on to another point about wanting to do the job and wanting to be involved is, I’ve got friends who work in soaps and they’ve all said you know ‘the pace of it is really intense and you’re going to learn so much.’

"As an actor, I graduated 10, 12 years ago and I’ve never not wanted to continue learning and growing and the opportunity to test myself and challenge myself on the cobbles, you only get one shot at it. In terms of characters to have a go at, this is in my mind as good as it gets to push yourself and test yourself on."

Joe also teased more on what was ahead before his exit from the show, with Mick set to find out his son Brody might actually be the son of Kit Green, someone from Mick and Lou's past who joined the show months before they did. He shared: "He’s totally blindsided by it.

"I think there could well have been transgressions from both Lou and Mick over the years but for one, Brody not to be his biological son and two, the father to be Kit is completely unique. He had no idea, I don’t think. That’s how I played it anyway."

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