Corrie's Samia Smith upset over axe rumours

Coronation Street's Samia Smith has admitted that reports suggesting she had been axed were "upsetting".

The actress, who plays hairdresser Maria Connor, took maternity leave from the show last year and will return for Siege Week.

She told the Daily Star: "If anyone read that they were going to be axed they'd find it upsetting. Being off on maternity leave made it even worse, as I was completely out of the loop.

"I put a call in to work and asked what was going on and they reassured me that the rumours were not true.

"Whenever a new producer [Phil Collinson] comes in, my name always seems to be on the list of possible characters that is going to be axed. It’s really quite upsetting."

The star continued: "I was gearing myself up to return for the special episodes and suddenly it was like my whole world was collapsing.

"It really stressed me out. I was always going to return after having Freya and had organised for Matthew’s mum to look after her while I worked. Fortunately, the rumours about me weren’t true."

Actually - I didn't even realise she hadn't been in it for a while.