Kym Marsh "shocked" by Sacha Parkinson Corrie exit

Kym Marsh has spoken of her surprise upon hearing of co-star Sacha Parkinson's decision to leave Coronation Street.

Marsh added that she is "settled" with the soap, and has no plans to follow other recent departures including Graeme Hawley and Craig Gazey.

The actress is currently on maternity leave after giving birth to her third child, Polly, while her character (Michelle Connor) is working on a cruise ship.

Writing in her column for New, she wrote: "I was quite shocked to hear that Sacha Parkinson, who plays Sian Powers, is leaving Corrie, but she's only young and she has her whole career ahead of her.

"Soaps are great for people like me who are settled because they're a stable place to be, but if she wants to try her hand at other things, now's the time to do it."

Speaking about her new baby, she added: "Polly's 10 weeks old now and she had her first injections last week and it was terrible. She was really out of sorts and cried the whole day. She eventually exhausted herself and fell asleep for five hours solid, which is unheard of.

"She usually feeds every two hours and if you put anything near her mouth, she wants to attack it. My mum and dad stayed overnight last Sunday to give Jamie and me a good night's sleep. I woke up feeling refreshed, but my mum certainly didn't!"

Kym Marsh recently revealed that she will marry her boyfriend Jamie Lomas next year.

She and co-star Keith Duffy will return to Coronation Street in September.