Coronation Street star Colson Smith has opened up about his real feelings over his character Craig Tinker’s exit from the soap.

This evening on the cobbles (Wednesday, May 21), Craig Tinker lost his life after suffering severe swelling on the brain.

And now, Colson Smith has revealed his true feelings about bidding farewell to Weatherfield and Craig after 14 years.

PC Craig Tinker’s death in Coronation Street

On Monday evening (May 19), Craig was desperate to prove his worth to Kit Green and decided to go out on patrol to deal with the Mick Michaelis situation.

Pulling Mick over for drunk driving, Craig then asked to test his breath with a ‘kit,’ but the mere mention of the word ‘kit’ was enough to get Mick really angry.

Craig tried to explain that it was all a misunderstanding and that Kit wasn’t out to get him but Mick wouldn’t hear of it.

Mick the grabbed a bat and whacked Craig over the head, leaving him unconscious on the floor before making a run for it.

This evening, Maria Connor found Craig on the floor and called for an ambulance.

At the hospital, Craig started to wake up and told Asha that he knew who hurt him. However, before he could tell her, the swelling on his brain impacted him too much and he passed away.

Coronation Street star Colson Smith opens up about Craig Tinker axe

Speaking to Entertainment Daily! and other media about his final storyline and soap exit, Colson Smith revealed his initial reaction to finding out that his character had been axed.

He explained: “So, when I was in the chat with Kate [Brooks] I’d already braced myself already for what was about to happen. I’d been in that building since I was 12 years old so I know exactly how it works. So, I knew my time was up and I knew that Craig had backed himself into a corner that was going to be really hard to get out of.”

“For me to go, I would want to die. I would want the door to be shut so I can kind of know in my head that Corrie has been this, Corrie has done that, and it is now done, and so is Craig’s journey.

“So I think Craig dying and Craig dying in the line of duty as a copper, that kind of hero’s death was by far the most perfect story for the exit.

Colson also admitted that he’s not up for returning in any flashback scenes or ghost scenes, admitting: “The day I leave will be the day that I leave.”

Coronation Street star Colson Smith reveals all on last days on set

After receiving the news in October, Colson also opened up about his final days filming in Coronation Street.

“It was pretty mint to be fair the final block, I throughly enjoyed it.

“The last few weeks were mint, they were perfect, it was a really nice way to go out.”

However, his actual final scene was in Roy’s Rolls rather than in the hospital, admitting that they were ‘very emotional.’

In a moment of reflection, Colson also shared how he said goodbye to the set on everyone who worked with him on the soap.

He explained: “I just sat outside the Rovers on the Street and I just sat there probably for about an hour, and just sat, chilled, sat on the Street, soaked it all in as my way of saying goodbye and thank you to Corrie and everything it had done for me. I felt okay, I feel ready to go…”

As a goodbye gift, he bought everyone a lego Craig Tinker and also took his police hat home with him as a memory of his lengthy time on the show.

Read more: Coronation Street fans ‘shocked’ as they work out where Debbie really lives

Coronation Street usually airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV.

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