ITV Emmerdale and Coronation Street icon reveals retirement
John Whiston, who was Managing Director of Continuing Drama and Head of ITV in the North, has revealed he will be stepping down.
The soap boss oversaw both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
He will step down at the end of the month, with Iain MacLeod and Matt Cleary taking over.
ITV Emmerdale and Coronation Street icon reveals retirement
On his retirement, the ITV soap icon said: 'I've always said I've got the best job in TV. I used to say it privately in case ITV stopped paying me.
'It has been nothing short of an honour, as well as a blast, to work on the soaps this last decade or so.
"We've had joy, we've had fun and we've had seasons in the sun. We've also had misery and mayhem, we've had motorway crashes, tram crashes and floods.
'And we've had stories which have squeezed your heart till tears came out of your eyes. We've covered pretty much anything and everything that people have to face in their own lives. And we've done that with care and humanity.
'With the appointment of Iain MacLeod as Creative Director and Matt Cleary as Chief Operating Officer and with fantastic stories in place for the move to five episodes a week next January, and a never-before-seen mega mash-up between the two shows, the future for our ITV Soaps is set fair.
'So it's the right time to leave and for me just to say thank you… to colleagues, to ITV and to our loyal, appreciative audience.'
During his time at ITV, Whiston has overseen a number of other shows, including A Touch of Frost, Heartbeat, Lewis and Vera.
Whiston's retirement comes just after the announcement of the first-ever crossover between the ITV soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street.
Get ready for the drama to double! We're SO excited to announce that Coronation Street and Emmerdale will be producing a special hour-long crossover episode 🎉
Read more here: https://t.co/1K6ZF3B6mD pic.twitter.com/B1OzKPu8yx — Emmerdale (@emmerdale) May 13, 2025
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The hour-long crossover episode will air in January 2026, with characters from the Yorkshire town and Weatherfield coming together for the first time.
ITV said: "The producers, scriptwriters and production teams have conceived an ingenious way of linking the two universes, but with characters then returning to the soaps they are renowned for inhabiting in Manchester and Yorkshire.
"The episode will be self-contained, but the consequences of the high-stakes drama will have repercussions for both communities and see them linked forever as familiar faces depart and exciting new characters arrive into both soaps."
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