Corrie actor left crying for months after soap exit as he 'misses having job'

's Colson Smith was walking around with a huge gash in his head and "covered in blood" for days, when he filmed the climactic final scenes which led to policeman Craig Tinker's death at the hands of thug Mick (Joe Layton). Viewers might have had to reach for the tissues when they saw him collapse, lifeless, to the ground after being struck in the head with a baseball bat - but Colson has now revealed he's been in tears over it for months.

In fact, he revealed that his crowd have at times held "more weight" for him than his own family, after spending over half his life in the Craig role. He explained: "I miss Corrie. I miss going to work, I miss having a job, and I feel like nothing will ever replace that." He then vowed: "I can do anything in the rest of my career, the rest of my life, and I'm fully aware that I will never get what I have got from Coronation Street from anywhere else."

The emotional actor continued that he'd "been Craig for longer than he'd not been Craig", and, over the years, felt he'd spent more time in the ITV soap's green room than in his own home.

"When at Corrie, the entire building's literally a family, and it almost holds more proper weight at times than your own family and your own life.

"You share so much with each other, so much time and so much understanding, that I kind of will miss being that little brother or that son, or that grandchild," he explained.

"We were there 12 hours a day, every single day... so I'll miss not being part of that family anymore."

Despite his tears and longing for the soap family he'd left behind, he confirmed that he'd wanted to be "killed off", rather than have an open-ended exit, and for there to be no way back.

"I knew that my time was up and I knew that Craig had backed himself into a corner that was gonna be really hard to get out of - I'd already braced myself for what was about to happen," he reflected.

The star, whose only other job since joining the soap at the age of 12 has been a stint on Celebrity Big Brother, said he'd wanted "the door to be shut" so he'd know "Craig's journey is over" and be able to throw himself into new beginnings.

"I make no secret that I want to be a presenter. That's where my love and passion lies at the moment. I enjoy being Colson and I enjoy telling stories, and holding a show," he divulged.

Colson also quipped that the finality of the death would avoid awkward questions in future interviews about whether he'd ever go back to his former role.

"In a really weird way," he concluded, "it was the right thing for me to be killed."