Emmerdale boss reveals she’s quit the soap and moved to Coronation Street in huge ITV shake-up – after the cobbles were thrown into crisis over boss replacement ‘headache’

Kate Brooks has been named Coronation Street’s new producer after leaving Emmerdale in a shock.

The TV veteran, who first served as story producer on the cobbles in 2012, will leave Emmerdale after eight years to replace Iain MacLeod after he was promoted to executive producer of continuing drama.

In a statement, she said: “I’ve had a wonderful time working on Emmerdale and feel immensely proud to be part of a team that has achieved such great success over the last eight years.”

“I loved my time on the show and had the privilege of working with such a talented and hard-working group of people, who are also the loveliest.”

Kate added that she has gained more than she “could have ever imagined” both professionally and personally during her time on the Yorkshire Dales-based show, but is delighted to be making the jump to Weatherfield next month.

She said: “Corrie has lit up my living room since I was a child, so being asked to produce a show I’ve revered for so long is the best time to pinch myself.”

‘I’ve loved the All-Pennines show and have always been amazed by the talent on display, both on and off screen.

“It truly is a special program and I strive to take great care to ensure it continues to thrive as we move into the next chapter.”

“Coronation Street is, and always will be, part of my DNA, and I can’t wait to get stuck into it.”

Meanwhile, Iain praised Kate as a “fantastic storyteller” and is looking forward to seeing what she does at the helm.

He commented: ‘I know that under his direction the show will be ambitious, exciting and full of heart and humour.

“She’s Corrie through and through and fits the show really well. I’m really excited to see what the next episode has in store and I can’t wait to work with her again.”

During her time on Emmerdale, Kate produced a variety of storylines alongside fellow producer Laura Shaw, including the return of serial killer Meena Jutla and Mandy Dingle in 2019 after 17 years away, along with Marlon’s stroke and the Faith’s breast cancer story in 2022.

He also married Emmerdale star Michelle Hardwick in 2019 and they have two children together.

Earlier this month, MailOnline revealed Corrie bosses were struggling with the “headache” of finding Iain’s replacement.

It was revealed that several television executives turned down the prestigious job, leaving the network with a “big headache.”

ITV’s top drama boss and former editor of The Archers, Huw Kennair-Jones, was recruited to fix the problem and approached a number of senior TV executives working at the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky in a bid to woo them.

But so far he has failed to attract anyone to run the show, which is set in the fictional town of Weatherfield, after Iain McLeod left the post of Coronation Street boss last week for a bigger role at the broadcaster. ​​after six years.

As an interim measure, MacLeod’s wife and Corrie’s assistant, Verity MacLeod, is filling in until they find someone to take the job.

ITV staff say this puts off potential candidates because they do not want to work between the married couple – something now known internally as the “MacLeod sandwich”.

A source told MailOnline: ‘ITV has had conversations with a number of TV executives who are currently working on other drama series or who have fronted big shows in the past.

But nobody wants to do it. One of the things that puts people off is the fact that you would answer to Iain and have his wife as your deputy.

“It’s a ‘MacLeod sandwich’ that no one wants to be in the middle of and it’s now become an even bigger headache for ITV.”

In recent years, Corrie, which still stars William Roache as Ken Barlow, has been criticized for abandoning its loyal audience, its obsession with younger characters and a series of “unbelievable” plots.

Show insiders say there has been a number of conversations among ITV top brass that Corrie series producer Iain MacLeod had been in the job too long after joining the show in 2018 because it is a role he always It has changed hands every two years. three years.

One said: ‘Corrie has always worked for two or three years. She needs that change every few years to bring in new ideas, while still being loyal to her DNA and keeping viewers happy.

‘It is one of the most important and prestigious jobs on television. There was some noise for a while about the ‘Corrie problem’, so in creating this new role, ITV on both soaps saw it as the answer to both Corrie and Jane Hudson leaving Emmerdale.

Corrie’s most-watched episode, with 26.65 million viewers, remains Christmas Day 1987, when Hilda Ogden left Weatherfield for the last time until she reprized the role for some specials.

But Wednesday’s show was watched by just 3.2 million and last year it missed the top 10 most-watched Christmas Day TV shows with just 2.6 million viewers, eight million fewer than a decade earlier.

Earlier this year, actress Maureen Lipman, 77, who has played Evelyn Plummer since 2018, urged the soap to ditch the gritty storylines and go back to basics.

She said: ‘We’ve reached a point in Corrie where people are being murdered in knicker factories. We are having domestic abuse. “Anything that has to do with the social problems of the 21st century will appear on the local soap opera.”

Speaking on the Beyond The Title podcast, he continued: “Whereas back then you had the freedom to put Martha (Longhurst), Minnie (Caldwell) and Ena (Sharples) in a comfortable place and have a conversation about Ben-Hur.

“It’s never been political, but I always like it when women sit up and say, ‘Ooh, Donald Trump, isn’t his hair amazing?’

She added: “All those wonderful expressions your parents make, like when my mother says, ‘Ooh, a black skirt doesn’t cover a multitude of sins.'” People talk like that and we recognize it as true.’