Sue Cleaver confirms if she has quit Coronation Street amid ongoing absence following illness

Sue Cleaver has confirmed she is set to return to Coronation Street despite taking a few months off.

The actress, 60, has played Eileen Grimshaw in the ITV soap since 2000.

However, she is taking a brief break for the series, swapping the cobbles for the stage in Sister Act: The Musical, which is touring the UK this year.

The new role also came after Sue had to stop filming last year after having a hysterectomy – a surgical procedure to remove the womb.

She’s now spoken about her future plans for Corrie, revealing she won’t be quitting the series.

Appearing on Lorraine on Wednesday, she was asked by the host whether she had plans to leave due to working on so many ‘amazing things and different challenges’.

‘Yes absolutely,’ she replied when then asked about returning.

‘I have a few months grace to do this job and then I will be back in there as soon as I finish,’ she explained.

After Eileen also being unlucky in love over the years, which included her marry serial killer Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre), Sue said she now hoped her character could find happiness with her current beau.

‘I think that George (Tony Maudsley) and Eileen should have a big old-fashioned Corrie wedding,’ she said.

Jumping in, Lorraine added: ‘I want her to be happy because she has had too many horrible men.’

Last month Sue spoke about her recent health issues on Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time podcast.

When asked how she was feeling after her surgery, she shared: ‘I am better now. I’ve had a pretty rubbish year. It started off with a hysterectomy and kind of went downhill from then, all out of the blue, weird stuff.

‘I was poorly for a while, so I’ve been off Corrie and hardly been in it sort of six, seven months, which is really strange. But they’ve been wonderful and very supportive, and I’m actually back in work tomorrow.’

She added: ‘I was already post-menopausal, but it has impacted in certain ways that I didn’t expect (…) and then I went and found myself in A&E, and then an intensive care and that kind of took over really, so it’s been a challenging six months.’

Last week Sue, who is playing Mother Superior in Sister Act, said training for the show had also left her ‘exhausted’.

Posting a photo from the dance studio, she captioned it: ‘First intro into rehearsals for @sisteractsocial… First time in a Pineapple Dance Studios since the 80s…

‘First time in a Pineapple Dance Studios WITHOUT leg warmers… F****n exhausted but super excited!!! #sisteractmusical @stberts.’