Soap Opera Star Reportedly Exits Show After Nearly 20 Years in Role

British actress Helen Flanagan was a fixture on Coronation Street for several years, but the star has reportedly quit the show for good, almost three years after she last appeared on the show. Flanagan played Rosie Webster on the 60-year-old soap opera from 2000 to 2018. She is reportedly choosing other career opportunities and focusing on raising her children instead of returning to Coronation Street.

"It's up in the air as to whether she will ever return. She has other career dreams she'd like to work on before making up her mind," a source told The Sun on Sept. 1. "She wants to focus on her three children and has other career dreams, including acting roles, she would like to work on before making up her mind whether to reprise her role as Rosie."

Flanagan began playing Rosie in 2000 and finished her original run in 2012. She returned in 2017 but has not returned since joining on maternity leave in June 2018. Flanagan, 31, also played Rosie on the spin-offs Coronation Street: A Knights Tale and Just Rosie. She got engaged to soccer player Scott Sinclair in May 2018 and they have two daughters. In March, the couple welcomed their third child, son Charlie.

"Helen loves Coronation Street, her character and the family but it takes up a huge amount of her time and it's become unfeasible," The Sun's source said. "ITV have left the door open for her should she ever wish to come back." In Flanagan's last episode, fans saw Rosie leave the U.K. to explore television opportunities in Japan.

Flanagan has not commented on the report. Her most recent Instagram post was published on Sept. 8 and shows her two daughters smiling together. "Autumn ready... my beautiful girls.. sisters. I think that Delilah looks like me here," she wrote. Outside of Coronation Street, Flanagan has participated in several U.K. reality shows, including I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrity Wedding Planner, Keep It In the Family, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, and Virtually Famous.

Coronation Street is one of the longest-running shows in the world. It debuted on ITV in December 1960 and now airs six times a week. The show passed 10,000 episodes in February 2020. The series is available to stream in the U.S. on BritBox, a joint venture between the BBC and ITV. Episodes from Seasons 61 and 62 are also available to stream on Hulu.