Gulati: 'I didn't regret leaving Corrie'

Shobna Gulati has insisted that she never had any regrets about leaving Coronation Street in 2005.

The actress bowed out of her role as Sunita Alahan four years ago in order to spend more time with her young son Ashkay. At the time, she had played the on-off partner of Weatherfield businessman Dev (Jimmi Harkishin) for more than five years.

Gulati has now returned to the ITV1 soap as part of an "exciting new direction" for Dev which has been promised by producers.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail about why she left the programme, the 43-year-old explained: "In 2005, Ashkay was 9 years old and just about to move up to secondary school. I'm a lone parent so I had to get used to home life a little more. It was time to do other things and be more anonymous.

"It was a tough decision. I lost sleep over it. But I think I made the choice well. I never thought, 'What have I done?'."

The soap star also promised that Sunita, who has a new fiancé, will be "a lot tougher" on screen this time around.