Coronation Street Star Blasts Rumors After 28 Years — “It’s Pathetic!” | Duly

A Coronation Street star raged at ‘pathetic’ rumours in an explosive rant on Wednesday after it was claimed she had been axed from soap after 28 years.
Jane Danson, who has played Leanne Battersby on the ITV programmed since 1997, first arrived in Weatherfield with her mother Janice (Vicky Entwistle), father Les (Bruce Jones) and sister Toyah (Georgia Taylor).
The actress, 46, urged a Facebook page to ‘stop making up stories’ after they circulated news that she had left the soap.
Sharing an update to Instagram, she wrote: ‘Apparently I’ve been axed from the show and have written a letter to say how upset I am.
‘First of all, if I have been ‘axed’ surely I would have been told? Had almost 30 years of people feeling the need to say what they want or making up stories and I’ve never bitten back but I’ve had enough of reading absolute c**p.
‘Just stop it, it’s pathetic. And please stop believing the 99% nonsense these sites keep spinning. It can be so damaging and it’s really unkind. Think before you type.’
Coronation Street star Jane Danson raged at ‘pathetic’ rumours in an explosive rant on Wednesday after it was claimed she had been axed from soap after 28 years
Jane Danson, who plays Leanne Battersby, first arrived in Weatherfield in 1997 with her mother Janice (Vicky Entwistle), father Les (Bruce Jones) and sister Toyah (Georgia Taylor)
Jane has previously told of how she was left too frightened to leave her home after rising to fame on Coronation Street.
Recalling her first days on the ITV serial, Jane said she was written to and accosted by viewers while out who would scold her for her character’s on-screen behaviour.
The Battersby’s were billed as a working class ‘family from hell’ and their presence on the cobbles left many viewers unimpressed.
Jane explained to the Mirror: ‘The Street was in a very different place back then, with a small cast and long-established characters, then this rough family came in behaving terribly and everyone hated them.
‘People wrote to me all the time saying, “We hate you. Leave our street!” I was just a girl from Bury who’d done a few bits of acting so as an 18 year old that was a big shock.
‘One day I was out at my local shops when an old woman hit me with her handbag and told me to “turn that bloody music down” because Leanne had been shaking the cobbles with her big boom box!’
Jane said she became too scared to leave her house and took extra care if she ever did.
However, the star understands who fans of the soap acted the way they did, saying Coronation Street seemed like a real place to them at the time and her character Leanne was simply too ‘gobby’ for their liking.
The actress, 46, urged a Facebook page to ‘stop making up stories’ after they circulated news that she had left the soap (pictured on screen in 2015)
Jane fumed: ‘First of all, if I have been ‘axed’ surely I would have been told? Had almost 30 years of people feeling the need to say what they want or making up stories’
In June, it was reported that soaring production costs and a collapse in advertising revenue are said to have put the future of the long-running soap in jeopardy and sparked a number of budget cuts.
From January 2026, Corrie will reduce to six weekly episodes to just five, airing alongside Emmerdale in a ‘new soaps power hour.’
It’s been reported the ITV soap is in trouble due to an alleged cash crisis and a revolt from the cast over poor working conditions and low salaries.
In January, an insider claimed some of the show’s well known actors could see their scenes in the Rovers Return cut to save cash.
As more well-established stars are paid more per episode, the show is said to be relying more on its newer characters as those actors are paid less.
Salaries on the cobbles vary significantly with established stars like Bill Roache said to earn £2,000 per episode while newbies usually get £400 per appearance
Gail Platt – played by Helen Worth for 50 years – appeared in just 26 out of 304 episodes in her final year on the soap, while Bill only played Ken for 48 episodes.
While some of the show’s mid-ranking and younger actors are been said to be worried they’ll be written off the show in order to keep the more established stars.
Last year, the show’s new boss warned the multiple characters will face the boot as she opened up about several ‘unexpected exits’ in 2025.
Coronation Street airs on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.