According to the Mirror, written by journalist and ex-Corrie actor Nigel Pivaro, it will be in conjunction with a big storyline for him and Rita - but he won't be killed off.
That ubiquitous "Soap Insider" tells the Mirror: "He thinks the writers didn’t think his character was viable any more".
That makes some sense since the character is hardly used and it seems like they couldn't figure out what to do with him once they married him to Rita. I will miss him a lot as Philip Lowrie just shines off the screen whenever he's in a scene, small or large. I hope they have a chance to change their minds.
It's such a shame to have one of the original cast members gone, especially if they don't wait to see if William Roache will be back or not. There would then be nobody left from the original cast. Eileen Derbyshire is the next longest serving actor. She has been playing her character, Emily Nugent since episode 11 in early 1961.
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