Former Coronation Street star Wendi Peters shared the real reason behind her soap exit – claiming she’d “had enough”.
The actress, 56, shot to fame playing Cilla Battersby on the ITV soap. As the mother of Fiz and Chesney, she rocked up to the famous cobbles back in 2003.
Introduced as Les Battersby’s love interest, Cilla soon became a hit with viewers. She was involved in several memorable moments, including the iconic scene that saw Cilla and Les (Bruce Jones) fall through their ceiling after dog Schmeichel invaded their bath.
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But in 2007, soap fans were left gutted when Cilla said her goodbyes to the cobbles. A year later though, Wendi made a cameo appearance as Cilla Battersby in the soap spin-off Coronation Street: Out Of Africa.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
And in 2014, the character returned for a brief stint. But the loud-mouthed soap favourite has been absent from Weatherfield ever since.
After her exit from Corrie, Wendi kept herself busy. In 2009, she was a finalist on Celebrity Masterchef. And in 2022, she bagged a role on the rival soap, BBC’s Doctors, playing Dr Nina Bulsara.
Back in 2016, Wendi candidly confessed the real reason behind her Corrie exit. And it turns out she was fed up with ‘not getting any big storylines.’
Appearing on the podcast Here She Is hosted by Timmy Alexis Carrington Ward, when asked how she felt about bagging the role on Corrie, Wendi said: “It was great, it was brilliant. It was a big thing to get.”
Wendi was then quizzed on why she left the soap after four years. She candidly replied: “Yeah I decided I’d had enough.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“And to be honest, I wasn’t getting big storylines for about 18 months and I was trickling in and out. The storylines started going round and round.
“How many times can she [Cilla] be horrid? I just thought you know what, I need to move on and do something else. I loved it but I need to get back to my roots in theatre.”
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
The talented actress began her career in theatre during the nineties. She has appeared in productions such as The Scarlet Pimpernel, Guys and Dolls, Into the Woods and Noises Off.
Wendi has previously made a candid admission about “struggling” to be cast for some roles, after being stereotyped for playing Cilla. Speaking to The Mirror, she said: “I love to play aristocrats, for example, but I don’t think on TV I would be seen for something like that.
“Sometimes people find it hard to look past Cilla and see me as something else.” Wendi did add though that if the right storyline was on the table, she would love to return as Cilla in the future, adding: “Never say never.” She said: “If they phoned me with a lovely storyline I’d be more than happy to think about it.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
