Emmerdale favourite Kelvin Fletcher to leave soap after 20 years to become a rally driver
Star has played Andy Sugden on the show since the age of 12
EMMERDALE hunk Kelvin Fletcher is to leave the soap after more than 20 years as farmer Andy Sugden, The Sun can reveal.
The actor, 32, has played the role since he was 12 and has already filmed his final scenes at Emmerdale Farm.
Kelvin, who has already had his leaving do, has told pals that he wants to become a full-time rally driver, having raced competitively
alongside filming commitments since 2012.
He is the 16th longest-serving actor in the show's 44-year history,having been on the show for two decades.
His character Andy is currently embroiled in a big storyline which could see him go to prison after his jealous lover Chrissie White
frames him for murdering her father Lawrence.
But this is not believed to be how he exits the long-running show.
A TV source said: "Kelvin is a soap legend and will be sorely missed by Emmerdale and viewers.
"Bosses have managed to keep him leaving top secret but now the cat is out of the bag.
"He has become part of the furniture he's been there so long.
"Producers have given him a big, dramatic exit. It's going to be the perfect way to see off Andy.
"Show chiefs aren't necessarily saying it's for good and they are leaving the door open. But for now this is the last people will see of
Andy for the foreseeable future."
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Kelvin joined the soap in 1996 as Andy Hopwood, before being adopted by Jack and Sarah Sugden.
His character has been through some big dramas on the soap - including three weddings, a spell in prison for manslaughter and a near-death accident when he was impaled on a spike after a domestic abuse storyline.
Viewers are currently watching him appear in court accused of the murder of Lawrence White.
And in scenes to be shown this week Chrissie, played by Louise Marwood, is seen pressuring him to plead guilty, despite the fact the
crime was committed by her son Lachlan.
Oldham-born Andy recently revealed how he was thinking about life after the show.
He said he wanted to try new roles but that his "drive and hunger" for the show had never waned.
He said: "I do have aspirations to do other things. When you play one character for 20 years, regardless of the storylines they throw at
you, there comes a time when you want to try something else.
"My drive and hunger for acting has never subsided, but hopefully I've got a few strings to my bow."
A spokeswoman for the show declined to comment.
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