Coronation Street‘s George Shuttleworth is sticking around on the cobbles following the departure of his partner Eileen Grimshaw.

George makes his tough choice in tonight’s episode after realising that his relationship with Eileen has reached the end of the road.

The latest visit to Weatherfield features Sue Cleaver’s final appearance in the role of Eileen after an impressive 25-year run.

Eileen heads off to Thailand with her son Jason, who has encouraged her to seek a fresh start by investing in his bar business and helping to run the place.

Related: 15 huge Coronation Street spoilers for next week

Earlier this week, George agreed to make the move with Eileen – much to her shock as she didn’t believe that he’d ever be so spontaneous.

However, in tonight’s episode, a heartbroken George changes his mind after another brutally honest moment with Eileen.

After previously rejecting his marriage proposal, Eileen leaves George crushed by admitting that she only loves him as a friend.

George realises this is no basis for such a life-changing move with Eileen, so he offers his blessing for her to go without him.

The news is no real surprise to anyone who follows Corrie spoilers closely. In early March, Tony Maudsley – who plays the undertaker – confirmed that he’d signed a new contract which would keep him on the show until at least mid-2026.

“That’s George serving (and burying) the good folk of Weatherfield till at least July 2026. Happy days,” he wrote on social media. Tony has played George for nearly five years.

Meanwhile, Sue Cleaver announced her decision to leave Coronation Street in January this year.

In an interview last week, she added: “”Eileen had such bad experiences with men. George was kind and he was comfortable, so she stuck with him. But Julie was saying to her: ‘Look, are you sure he’s the one? Life is so short’. It was that realisation that life is very short and: ‘Am I just settling for the wrong reason?’

“Eileen fought against it, but Julie’s voice was in her ear saying: ‘You know this isn’t the one for you. You’re not in love with him. He’s not making your heart sing’.

“It’s not like they’ve been together for 20 years, where you might expect that. It’s still quite new, in a sense.

“So I think it was really the voice of Julie in Eileen’s ear that started making her question her whole lot in life, where she was in life, the age she was and was there anything else out there for her?”