Alison King, who plays Carla Connor in Coronation Street, has said she is leaving the ITV soap and not taking a sabbatical as had been reported.
King, who has been a Weatherfield stalwart since 2006, said that while the producers were not killing her character off, she was looking forward to the next stage in her career.
"It's been put out there that I'm taking a sabbatical, but I'm not," she told British entertainment magazine Radio Times.
"They've very graciously left the doors open for me to come back if I want to. And I haven't ruled that out. But this is a new chapter for me," she continued.
In May of last year, ITV said King was "taking a sabbatical for creative reasons". The star said she had originally planned to be in the show for four years.
Reflecting on how the soap had impacted on her personal life, King said: "I'm now going into my 10th year. So all Daisy (her daughter) has ever known is me getting out of the house at 7.30 in the morning and getting back when she's in bed."
"I've probably only ever done about 20 pick-ups or drop-offs in all the time she's been at school, which is quite sad," she added.
King in Coronation Street with third onscreen husband Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne)
During her decade on Coronation Street, King has been at the centre of multiple storylines including the breakdown of her two marriages, alcoholism and a love triangle.
