Sue Cleaver interview: Leaving Coronation Street

Eileen is really struggling with her feelings for George. What is going through Eileen’s head, what was making her feel that George wasn't the one for her?

I think she had such bad experiences with men, and George was kind and he was comfortable so she stuck with him. But Julie was saying to her “Look, are you sure he's the one? Life is so short.” That realization that life is very short, and “Am I just settling for the wrong reason?” And she fought against it. But Julie's voice was in her ear saying “You know this isn't the one for you. You're not in love with him. He's not making your heart sing.” And it's not like they've been together for 20 years where you might expect that. It's still quite new in a sense. So I think it was really the voice of Julie in her ear that started making her question her whole lot in life and where she was in life and, you know, the age she was and was there anything else out there for her?

Eileen has always had a lot happen in her life with her boys and men, all the comings and goings in that Tardis-like house. Has Eileen ever had a chance to sit and think and reflect on what is right for her?

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. 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.

Q: Which is interesting because obviously, what brought you to want to leave was to do something different. What advice would Sue give to Eileen at this point where she's sitting there thinking, “Am I with the right man? What am I doing? My son's come back. What should I do with my life?” 

I think that we have to have more faith in ourselves. It's important that at this time in our life when we've got empty nests and we feel that society's done with us, that it's really important that we push back against that. We might not be able to change society's view – slowly it’s changed – but it's up to us, we can make changes. And I think the most important thing is not to sit and zone out because I think the only way to affect change is to get out of your comfort zone, and it's the only time that things happen. There are lots of opportunities out there, and we have to remember all the strength that we have and what we have to offer as women of a certain age; our experience counts for a lot. And it's never too late to reinvent yourself. It's never too late to be brave and try something new. Bravery isn't just something you have; it's learned. You just make little tiny steps, just little tiny things every day to change your routine and step out and be fearless. And so that's the journey I'm on. And in a sense, yes, Eileen’s mirroring that, stepping out into the unknown.

Q: Let's talk about Ryan's return to the show. What made you think that that would be a sort of nice ending for you at the point where you were leaving?

Ryan was there from the start, and he 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, like 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.

Q: So when Jason suggests to Eileen, that she go with him? Is she scared? Does she have a moment of saying, "Oh, I can't just do that. I've got a life here?"

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, I guess, to go to almost the other side of the world, and with the safety blanket of her son being there, you know, go and be with him for a while. She's been with Todd for a long time, and he doesn’t have anything to lose really apart from that.

Q: For you, was that the perfect ending? Was that the ending you would have liked for Eileen, the ending of this chapter of Eileen as it were?

I said very much that I would like her to go off to pastures new, you know, 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.

Q: Will you watch it? Have you seen any of it? Will you watch that last episode?

Yeah, I'll watch that last episode. I will. It is the end of a chapter of my life.

Q: What was it like filming it? Are you someone who gets emotional at things like that, what was that last day like?

It was filmed out of order so my last scene on screen was filmed a few days before my last day so that made it a lot easier. There were a few moments where it hit me and I was like, “Oh wow,” you know, it's like not so much, the job, but also the people that we take… we take people for granted. You know, they're just there all the time, and then you go, “Oh God, that's it. That is the end.” That is strange. But I had a nice dinner out with the Grimshaws and the street car boys on the evening after we'd filmed that final EIleen scene, and then we were back in to do other scenes. It was a very strange thing. And I very much when I'm going, I'm going, and I don't like goodbye, so the greatest thing for me was that it was the very end of the day when I finished so I knew I wouldn't have loads of people in there because I find that sort of thing uncomfortable. I had  to get on the train because I had some work in London the next morning. And then I woke up on Saturday morning in the hotel and It was a sense of like,” yep, that was it. That's it.” And because it was exactly how I wanted it to be, it felt right, yeah. I'm never going to feel like I'm that far away. I have too many connections there. I've got too many friends who are there, my  husband still works there so, it's always going to be a huge part of my life, and maybe one day she'll bob back.

Glenda Young

Bestselling novelist published by Headline

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