Coronation Street's Sheila Birtles actress whose suicide scenes were axed after a leak dies aged 94

Eileen Mayers died on 27 June 2026, a death only now made public through an announcement in Equity magazine. Her acting career began aged 15 at the Oldham Repertory Theatre. After the storyline leaked and viewers complained, Granada rewrote it within 24 hours. In the broadcast version Sheila overdosed, the screen faded to black, and she left Weatherfield alive to stay with her parents.

Sheila arrived in episode 8 as a fun, flirty worker at Elliston's Raincoat Factory.

Mirror reporter Ken Irwin admitted: 'I leaked the story and all hell broke loose.'

The axed scenes finally aired in 2011 in the documentary 'The Corrie Years'.