Ellie Leach has paid tribute to her Coronation Street co-star following his death.
Duggie Brown - a comedian and actor - passed away earlier this week, just months after he starred as Ted Spear in the ITV soap earlier this year. He has another connection with Coronation Street, and is the brother of actress and singer Lynne Perrie - who played Ivy Tilsley on Corrie for 23 years until 1994. Lynne passed away in 2006 after suffering a stroke.
And Ellie posted a poignant tribute to her co-star - who appeared in a recent storyline with Emma Brooker ( Alexandra Mardell ) - after his death was confirmed by his agent. As well as his acting, Duggie was also known for his huge comedy career.
"Rest in peace Duggie Brown. You brought so much laughter in the short time I got to work with you. It was such a pleasure and will be something I will remember forever! You will be sadly missed by many," she wrote in a sweet message on Instagram.
Duggie starred as Ted, who entered the soap as a new character when Faye and Emma accidentally knocked him over during a driving lesson. Whilst he initially seemed ok, they took him home and he later passed away in the show. Both of the women initially refused to own up to their part in his death, with fears they might end up in jail.
Faye's partner Craig Tinker, a police officer, was living with them making things even worse.
Eventually, they admitted to him what they had done but another spanner was thrown into the works when Emma started getting close to Ted's grandson. However, there was a happy ending as he decided not to tell the police and she headed off to Australia with him after they fell in love and planned to use Ted's inheritance to start a new life together.
Elsewhere on the ITV soap, Faye and Craig might seem strong - but she is having her own health battle. Faye is experiencing symptoms of the early menopause, and actress Ellie admits it is a tough storyline to take on.
"Yeah, yeah definitely not. But obviously it's always good to be able to tell a story, whatever you get," she explained, "So yeah, I was shocked because I didn't really realise that it happened to women so young. But I think that's why it's good because not a lot of people know about it, so it's good to be able to show that this happens and make sure everyone knows about it.
"Obviously there are all types of stuff that happens - you can get so many symptoms. I think the hardest one for me is kind of the mood swings because it's going from 0 to 100 so quickly. And obviously I don't really go through that in my life."
