“I think it’s bittersweet for me.”

Coronation Street star Calum Lill has shared his mixed emotions over leaving his role as Joel Deering.

The walls appear to be closing in on the villainous character, with Joel’s fiancée Dee-Dee Bailey digging deeper into his secret life.

As audiences get closer to the big reveal, Calum admitted it is “bittersweet” to say goodbye to the role.

“I think it’s bittersweet for me. As an actor, it’s getting more and more juicy, but as soon as this comes to a climax, I leave this incredible place filled with so many people I’ve come to know and love and been some of my best friends over the last 18 months,” he said.

“I’m very excited to get to the end of the story, but it will be very bittersweet because it’s the most incredible place to work.”

Opening up further about the storyline, Calum explained why Dee-Dee seems to have fallen for Joel’s manipulations.

“There seems to be a thing where people question how has Dee-Dee fallen for this, how has she been so stupid, seen what’s right in front of her – but there’s been nothing right in front of her because he’s hidden everything,” he noted.

“A lot of victims of abuse and manipulation, it’s not their fault they haven’t seen it. He’s hidden everything and is really manipulative.

“Selfishly I absolutely love working here, so it bodes well for me the better Joel is at hiding things! In true soap justice, he can’t get away with what he’s done, especially because of how bad the things he’s done are.”

The star also said that Joel is prepared to go “further than [he] thought he would go” to keep his secrets.

“When I read it I was scared to even play it, because it was that dark!” he added. “He’ll go to any lengths that he needs to.”

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.