Former Coronation Street cast member Sean Wilson had criticised the focus of storylines on the show in an interview that’s resurfaced following news of his latest departure.

The actor, 59, is best known for playing Martin Platt on the ITV soap opera. It was announced just last month that the character would return as part of the upcoming exit storyline for his ex-wife Gail Platt (played by Helen Worth ).

Last week though, it was revealed that Sean – who appeared on Corrie from 1985 to 2005, before briefly returning in 2018 – had left the show once again, and it was reported that his scenes won’t now air. In a statement, a spokesperson for the show told the Mirror about his recent departure: “[Sean] has stepped down from filming for personal reasons.”

The news comes after Sean had questioned the approach to storylines on the show in recent years in a interview released just months ago. His comments about it have now resurfaced following the news of his unexpected departure.

Speaking to the Daily Star, Sean said he wasn’t surprised that Corrie’s rating are much lower than during his initial stint in the cast. He suggested that factors affecting viewing figures include the way the show handles storylines.

High-profile storylines in recent years have included the murder of Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni) and more recently Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) having been diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Sean suggested to the outlet that the long-running show is now too “issue-centric”.

Sean Wilson (left) returned to Coronation Street as part of the upcoming exit storyline for co-star Helen 

He said in the interview, published in February: “I think the world of soaps is a different vehicle nowadays. I think I was part of the British soap industry at the best time, the halcyon years when there was 18 or 21 million people watching it. You could walk down the street on a Wednesday or a Friday and you could hear people laughing with their windows open because of the great writing and the great acting was really speaking to the nation. I don’t think it does that so much nowadays.

“There’s lots of different reasons. There’s too many channels to choose from which means there’s a lot of choice. People don’t have to watch it anymore. Watching [Corrie] when I was in it was a family thing, people would sit around and maybe have their food or have a cup of tea together and have a good laugh together, shed a tear or two at some of the sad moments.”

He added: “They were all segwayed together; you were five minutes from laughing and five minutes from crying. Nowadays it seems very much issue-centric, they’re trying to solve the world’s issues, which they’re not going to do.”

Sean – who went into the cheesemaking business after his first departure from Corrie – teased at the time that he would consider returning, depending on the storyline. It was just months later that it was announced he would be back for Gail’s exit storyline, prior to the news of his departure.

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Source: CNN