James Burrows calls Kym Marsh 'mum'

Kym Marsh\'s former \'Coronation Street\' co-star James Burrows still calls her "mum".

The 43-year-old actress has paid tribute to her former colleague - who has announced he\'s leaving the ITV soap - describing James as a "fantastic actor" and revealing the unusual way he addresses her.

Writing in OK! magazine, Kym - who played Michelle Connor on \'Coronation Street\' - said: "James Burrows has announced that he\'s leaving \'Corrie\'. He played my on-screen son Dr Ali Neeson for two years and I adore him.

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"He\'s a fantastic actor and a friend for life. We always had a good giggle on set and he still calls me \'mum\'."

Kym has known about James\' impending departure for a while.

And she revealed that they both shared similar reasons for wanting to leave the iconic soap.

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The actress - who has kids David, 24, Emily, 23, and Polly, eight - continued: "I actually knew his plans ages ago but was sworn to secrecy. He says he misses the creative side of acting and having different roles.

"That\'s one of the reasons I wanted to break away from the cobbles for a while. You want to play different roles and keep challenging yourself."

Kym relished her time on \'Coronation Street\', but can understand why some of the actors and actresses on the show may wish to try new things.

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The former pop star is also confident that her former co-star will do "amazingly well" after he steps away from the programme.

She said: "\'Corrie\' is an amazing place to work but I do also understand [James\'] reasons for spreading his wings. He doesn\'t need me to wish him good luck, he\'ll do amazingly well."