Street's Gail lover quits
CORRIE'S Reece Dinsdale is quitting the Street - despite being offered a massive pay rise to stay.
Stunned soap bosses wanted to up his £100,000-a-year salary by a THIRD so he'd carry on playing Gail Platt's pill-popping lover Joe McIntyre.
But Reece, 49, is turning his back on Weatherfield beacuse he's scared of being typecast. His character will be killed off next year when he takes an accidental overdose of painkillers.
Last night a Corrie source said: "Reece has been a massive hit and top brass thought they could strike a long-term deal. He was offered a massive pay rise but he turned it down.
"Executives were surprised. They wanted him to but he's wriggled off the hook."
Viewers have already seen kitchen fitter Joe get hooked on painkillers to cope with a back injury, and he'll soon go to drug dealers to feed his habit, turning on unlucky-in-love partner Gail.
Reece - who was in hit sitcom Home To Roost with John Thaw - joined Corrie in April 2008, saying talented actress Michelle Keegan, who plays his onscreen daughter Tina, was the reason. A Coronation Street spokesman said: "We wish Reece all the best."
How come I've been taking my meds"
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