Michelle Collins claims she had to quit ‘Coronation Street’ because it was turning her into a "zombie."
The 51-year-old actress, who has played Rovers Return landlady Stella Price since 2011, will leave the ITV soap in June after being left exhausted from driving between her London home and the show’s set in Manchester.
Michelle told The Sun newspaper: "I threw myself wholeheartedly into Corrie but I ended up spreading myself far too thinly.
"The tiredness is the worst, it can make you a zombie. Work is fantastic, but it’s not the be-all and end-all.
"You have to have some quality of life as well.
"That’s what Corrie has taught me. If you don’t have a work-life balance it can start to drive you a bit crazy.
"So I had to step back and say, ‘I can’t be Superwoman. I just can’t do everything’. "
The blonde star, who has an 18-year-old daughter, Maia, with ex-boyfriend Fabrizio Tassalini, found it difficult to make time for herself.
She added: "Like a lot of working mums, I worked so b****y hard and I was just tired all the time. I ran myself ragged and the last person I thought to look after was me."
Michelle, who also played villain Cindy Beale in EastEnders for ten years, insists she will miss the "warmth and friendliness" of ‘Coronation Street’ but she won’t miss the travelling.
She explained: "Once I made four journeys between London and Manchester in one day. Another time I crashed into a parked car after a long journey. I knew the travel wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t realise how hard it would be.
"You are in almost every scene. I had some fantastic stories and as an actress you want that.
"But I felt like I was on a loop. Home late Friday, Saturday, then back on Sunday."
She added: "That said, I still think I would have gone through with it if I’d known how hard it would be. Being landlady of the Rovers was an amazing experience."
Michelle Collins: I turned into a zombie
