ITV Corrie viewers complain over James Bailey's sudden exit as actor Nathan Graham explains why he left soap

He joined Coronation Street back in 2019 as a member of the Bailey family, and footballer James Bailey said an emotional goodbye to the street as he headed off to start a new job in south-east London. After his career in football at Weatherfield County came to an abrupt end after he suffered a cardiac arrest and found out he had a heart condition cardiomyopathy, James has begun a new chapter in his life.

In Monday night's episode (October 3) his uncle Ronnie told James there’s a youth centre near Lewisham looking for a football coach. Realising it’s close to where boyfriend Danny Tomlinson lives, James promised to call them straight away.

An excited James told Ronnie that he got the job at the youth centre and starts tomorrow. In the bistro, James broke the news to the family that he’d landed a great new job, but it meant moving to London.

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Cheered on by mum and dad Ed and Aggie and siblings Michael and Dee-Dee and their neighbours, he bid an emotional farewell to James as he left the street in a taxi. But viewers were left baffled. @Sally33903769 tweeted: "So james has got a new job and is leaving in the space of a day? Which world is he living in?!"

@missadventure79 remarked: "So James just gets the job and is starting straight away, eh? What about the month-long wait for the DBS check?" And @Jennifergirl68 commented: "#Corrie wow James’s decides to go into coaching and just like that he’s got a job."

Other fans were sad to see the character, played by Nathan Graham, go, saying they wanted to see more from the character. @DanJBrownMUFC tweeted: "I’m sad to see James go. Having a regular character as a