ITV Coronation Street’s Alex Bain ‘confirms’ exit after 15 years as Simon Barlow

Coronation Street’s Alex Bain, who plays Simon Barlow, has hinted that he’s leaving the show.

The actor has been on the ITV soap since he was seven, as Peter and Lucy Barlow’s son. Alex has been involved in a series of huge storylines, such as dealing with drugs and losing his mum Lucy. Soon, we might see him in a car crash on the show with Sam Blakeman, played by Jude Riordan. The actors were spotted filming the upcoming scenes before Christmas.

Around the same time, speculation mounted that Alex was preparing to leave the soap after 15 years, but he didn’t say it himself. He had still been sharing snaps on the set of the Manchester-based soap in MediaCity UK.

But now, Alex has put up a picture on Instagram that makes it seem like he’s really going to say goodbye to Weatherfield. The 22-year-old shared a snap from his dressing room mirror. Writing alongside his upload, Alex penned: “Well my day is done! Nice and short day today! I’m gonna miss this little space some dearly when I go!” The actor went on to write: “So glad I’ve got some shooting days left! So thankful! ”

After taking part in a Q&A on Instagram at the start of the year, Alex shared a video of himself in his dressing room at the Salford-based set, inviting fans and followers to ask questions about his ‘day to day life’. Alongside the question box, he wrote: “Adore my job I do! So glad to be back @coronationstreet for my first-day shooting of 2024.”

He added: “Such a good year ahead,” hinting at his long-term future on the show. Alex then answered several questions, including whether he misses Chris Gascoyne, who left the show on Boxing Day after 23 years of playing Peter on and off. “Absolutely! ” Alex replied.

He continued: “@christgascoyneofficial is one of the most amazing and complete actors I’ve had the pleasure of working with on Corrie! He is one of the utterly incredible people I had the joy to learn and hone the craft of acting with, and I will always be grateful for all he has done.”

Speaking previously to the Mirror, actor Ryan Prescott who plays Ryan Connor opened up about Alex’s upcoming departure from the show. Ryan told The Mirror at the TV Choice Awards 2024 how he’d heard the reports that Alex was leaving the show, as he addressed the recent exit of another co-star. Ryan seemed surprised by the news, while he said it wasn’t uncommon for soap stars to try other things after decades in a role. The actor also teased it might not be over for the character, hinting he may return in the future.

Ryan told us: “I heard, yeah! Which is… I think people have done 25 or 30 years and they want a little more time with their family and they’ve earned it so. Hopefully they’ll go on and do more of what they want to, but they’ll probably be back.”