Coronation Street's Alison King admits 'challenging goodbye' as she defends new addition

Coronation Street star Alison King said saying goodbye to co-star Chris Gascoyne was 'challenging' as she was quizzed on his exit for the first time since the scenes aired at the end of last year.

It was the end of an era in the ITV soap on Boxing Day as Peter Barlow and wife Carla Connor called it quits, bringing to an end one of soap fans' most-loved relationships. It then led to the exit of the actor who had earlier confirmed he would be leaving the long-running show after 23 years.

Peter made the decision to leave Weatherfield after the character struggled with guilt over his involvement in the death of serial killer Stephen Reid. Peter and Carla then looked back over their relationship and realised that, although they will always love each other, maybe they were better off apart before Peter left to join his friend Mickey on his yacht travelling the world.

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There have been a couple of mentions of Peter since his exit, with his son Simon Barlow recently leaving Weatherfield to join him. But Carla was seemingly left wounded when Simon showed her a picture of Peter with another woman during his travels.

Now, speaking about whether she enjoyed filming Peter's exit, Alison told Radio Times: "It’s always hard saying goodbye to Chris and it was a challenge. We wanted to let rip but also find the nuance, and know we’d probably end up falling to pieces and not be able to stop crying!

"Chris’s wife Caroline came to watch some of it being filmed and it really got me, as it made me realise these were his last scenes. I was pleased Carla and Peter were putting each other first and being grown-ups by letting each other go."

The Corrie icon also spoke about the arrival of Jack Caroll playing her nephew, Bobby Crawford. "He fits into the Coronation Street green room like a silk glove going on Marilyn Monroe’s hand, he is a very welcome addition and we love having him around," Alison gushed.

"I call him Jack-Jack! The chemistry and banter was there between us immediately. He is blooming nicely, and was put in at speed and really delivered. I was happy to take him under my wing."