CORONATION Street star Sally Ann Matthews has filmed her final scenes as Rovers Return landlady Jenny Connor after being brutally axed from the soap.
The actress first appeared on the cobbles in 1986 but 39 years later she was given the chop by bosses who brought back glamorous actress Catherine Tyldesley, 41, to replace her as the landlady of the iconic pub.
Actress Sally, 56, was left devastated by the axing and has now filmed her final scenes, packed up her Manchester flat and moved back to London to be with her family full-time.
A source said: “Sal wanted a lowkey exit.
“She said her goodbyes and has now left Manchester. She was filming her exit when news about her axing first came to light.
“Once she’d finished she wasted no time packing up her life in Manchester and moving straight back to London.
“She didn’t want a big leaving do or anything and just wanted to leave as quickly as she could. She filmed her final scenes and was gone.”
The decision to axe Sally from the soap came amid a troubling 12 months in which she rubbed bosses up the wrong way with her criticism of the show.
Her late night Instagram rants saw her say location filming had been scrapped amid ITV’s ongoing cash crisis with Sally Ann becoming one of the only stars to address the money worries hitting the soap.
She also made her feelings clear when she was given extended filming breaks due to a lack of storylines.
The decision was taken earlier this year to stand Jenny down from being Rovers landlady, shortly after Sally Ann’s rants caused issues behind-the-scenes.
“The writing was very much on the wall when Jenny lost the Rovers but an exciting exit has been planned for her.”
Sally Ann made her debut on the soap in 1986 as villain Alan Bradley’s tearaway daughter.
She made a shock return in 2015 which was only meant to run for a matter of months – but ended up staying and becoming a central figure in the show for another decade.The source added: “Sal’s Corrie royalty through and through and the decision hasn’t gone down well.
“There’s a lot of people going to be sitting there worried about their own futures.”
