Overview

• Craig Tinker was killed off in a May 21 baseball bat attack by drink-driving suspect Mick Michaelis, concluding Smith’s role on the soap.
• Smith had announced his departure in January after 14 years on Coronation Street, having joined the cast in 2011 at age 12.
• He will begin hosting on BBC Radio Leeds this summer and teased his live-show debut with an Instagram post outside the station’s studio.
• The actor has volunteered as a groundsman at Castleford Cricket Club, sharing behind-the-scenes snaps of his pitch maintenance duties.
• His career shift coincides with ITV’s cost-driven restructure of Coronation Street, which includes shorter episodes and multiple character cuts.