Calum Lill was left ‘crying’ as he co-star Channique Sterling-Brown paid tribute following his exit from the ITV soap

Coronation Street’s Calum Lill was left ‘crying’ as he co-star Channique Sterling-Brown paid tribute following his exit from the show. The actor was seen bowing out of the ITV soap as Joel Deering, despite fans struggling to believe the evil and troubled character is really gone.

Joel was loathed, whil Calum has been loved, by Corrie’s loyal following after it was revealed the squeaky clean solicitor was hiding a sinister secret.

Earlier this year it was revealed that he was Lauren Bolton’s ‘secret boyfriend’ and was behind her disappearance and presumed murder after he was seen attacking her with a chair leg.

Luckily, the teen survived and returned to Weatherfield over the summer. However, she was quickly confronted by Joel and through flashbacks, fans discovered what really happened between the pair – showing Joel had groomed Lauren, giving her money in return for sex.

While Joel’s grooming was becoming difficult to prove, DS Lisa Swain and Joel’s ex-fiancee, with the help of Swain’s daughter Betsy’s admission, managed to nail Joel for buying the drugs used to prompt Lauren’s early labour, having intended for her to miscarry their son, Frankie.

However, at the end of last month, Corrie, viewers saw Joel not show up to his plea hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest. After transferring money to Lauren and his ex-wife Emily, it was believed Joel may end up taking his own life.

Bit it was during Monday night’s (October 14), Corrie that viewers saw Kit Green, after Swain was taken off Joel’s case, and PC Craig Tinker studying CCTV from a train station car park, in which they saw Joel and then his dad, Gus, around a locker. Gus was hauled if for questioning by Kit, who was demanding answers, only three lads at a riverbank to spot a body floating in the water.

It was Craig who informed Kit and Swain about the discovery of Joel’s body before Kit later revealed to Lauren that the post-mortem confirmed that Joel was dead before he entered the river, so they’re now looking at a murder investigation.

While Corrie’s ‘biggest-ever whodunnit’ is now underway, Channique, who plays Dee-Dee, took to social media to pay tribute to her co-star Calum as she confirmed he’d officially bowed out of the soap after 13 months.

Sharing a video of the pair, the actress confirmed the first clip in the video recorded amid filming their final ‘nice scene’ together before an array of clips followed showing the pair behind the scenes together over their storyline together.

Alongside the post, Channique wrote: “RIP Joel Deering. You were flipping awful but you came in the form of one of my best mates and for that I’m very grateful. A year of shenanigans, endless brews, rehearsing only to get distracted and you carrying all my stuff.

“We’ve been grumpy, giddy, cried (okay I’ve cried) but most of all we’ve laughed. Thanks for the best year Cal, I wouldn’t have wanted to tell DeeDee and Joel’s story with anyone else. Right that’s enough being nice now, we can’t afford for that head of yours to get any bigger.”

She rounded off by writing: “Over and out,” before Calum was quick to respond: “Maaaaate [face holding back tears emojis] this set me right off! So many good memories [heart emoji]. I’m gonna miss you so much… I’ll even miss having to carry your things everywhere.”

He also shared Channique’s video to his Instagram Story and said: “I’m not crying, you’re crying,” alongside a number of crying face emojis.