Coronation Street star Elle Mulvaney responds to Jacob Hay's exit

 "I was absolutely gutted."

Coronation Street's Amy Barlow was left devastated in Friday's episode as her relationship with Jacob Hay hit the rocks in heartbreaking scenes.

The young couple had previously defied the odds to be together, but everything has gone wrong following the arrival of Jacob's villainous father Damon.

After Jacob messed up a dodgy delivery at the Bistro, losing £50,000 worth of drugs, Damon ordered him to leave town forever if he wanted to keep Amy safe.

Deciding that he couldn't be honest with Amy, a terrified Jacob let her believe that he'd willingly returned to drug-dealing and had grown bored with their relationship. The break-up marked the end of Jack James Ryan's time in the role of Jacob, who then left in a cab.

Here, Elle Mulvaney – who plays Amy – reflects on the emotional scenes.

Has Amy had any suspicions over Damon since he arrived on the Street?

"Initially, I think Amy was a bit confused with the whole situation. Jacob was very dismissive over Damon and she just wanted to work out how she could best help Jacob, because at the end of the day, he was her priority. She thought she could possibly help to mend their relationship – that Jacob was maybe holding back all these feelings rather than being open.

"Amy also thought Damon was charming. He's very good at wooing people and bringing them in. He's got this appeal when you meet him – when he started buying cocktails, talking of holidays and his elusive business.

"I think Amy felt for Damon. She thought that he was trying to make an effort with his son, that he understood what he'd done wrong and genuinely wanted to make amends. So Amy warmed to him quite quickly."

How was Amy's relationship with Jacob progressing up until this point?

"Amy was head over heels with Jacob. They clicked instantly when they got together and I think that love has just progressed more and more. Through them living together and forming this close-knit group of friends with Aaron and Summer, it just made Jacob and Amy get even closer because of that whole fun element of them living together like a proper little family.

"I think Amy really saw a genuine future with Jacob. They've both given up so much to be together – he's changed so much for her and put in so much effort for her that she just doesn't understand why he's gone back to his past life."

Of course, the viewers know that Jacob is an innocent party and has been forced into this. How did you feel when you read the storylines for Jacob's exit?

"Oh, I was absolutely gutted. I was tearing up reading the scripts because Jack is genuinely one of my best mates – I literally met up with him yesterday, I love him.

"He's an absolutely brilliant actor and I think to get to work with your best friend all the time is just an absolute godsend. He brought so much to the show, so I think he'll be really missed."

How does Amy feel about Jacob seemingly returning to drug dealing?

"Her world has just been torn apart. Everything that she thought she knew about Jacob has suddenly gone and it makes her question everything. She doesn't know how long it's been going on for, because she's only just caught him and that makes her question all of her own judgement about everything.

"Amy has let Jacob into her life and into her heart. She thought he'd made all these changes and then suddenly to have it thrown back in her face is a massive, massive shock to the system.

"Obviously the viewers know that isn't Jacob, and the changes he made for her were genuine, but Amy doesn't know that. He's left and she's none the wiser, presuming this is all his doing, so it feels like the ultimate betrayal.

"In Amy's eyes, I don't know what worst thing Jacob could have done because it feels like their whole relationship has been a lie."

Will Amy want to track Jacob down again and make things work, or has he blown his chance now?

"I think there's always going to be love for Jacob because he was Amy's first proper love. He's all she's known for the last year, so I think for Amy to just give that up is going to be so, so difficult.

"I don't think she'll be able to just forget about him, but I don't know whether in the future that means that she would be able to forgive him and have a relationship because of the betrayal. It may be she just has to live with these feelings of missing him and what they could have had."

Do you think this will change Amy's character going forward?

"I think she'll be more cautious of men. She's not an idiot and she's not someone to have the wool pulled over her eyes, so for this to have happened to her, I think her guard is going to be pushed straight up.

"She's not going to take any rubbish from anybody because she's been hurt now. Jacob has properly hurt her and I think it's going to take a lot for her to put her heart back out there because he's crushed her."

Had you enjoyed building up the Amy and Jacob relationship over the past year?

"Oh, we've loved it. We've absolutely loved it. Working with your best mate and him being your on-screen partner, you just couldn't ask for anything better.

"I think in terms of relationship partners. Jack has been so good to work with. He's always been there for me. Whenever we've had intimate scenes, we've always spoken about them beforehand to make sure we're both comfortable and happy with it.

"To have a scene partner who you genuinely bounce off makes life so much easier. I think that's why it comes across so well on screen because I think the viewers can see that we obviously click and it makes that on screen chemistry just so much more real.

"We've also been massively helped by the writing, because me and Jack have both said that the writing for us has just been brilliant. There's an unlikely pairing between Amy and Jacob because they are so different, but weirdly they work and I think that's what people like."

Are you enjoying playing more mature storylines for Amy after growing up on the show?

"Yeah, definitely. I think that's the brilliant thing that soaps do, to be a young performer yet still get given these huge opportunities as you get older now is just brilliant. To have these opportunities presented to you is so greatly appreciated and it's such a privilege to be able to be trusted to handle these bigger storylines.

"There's a lot more to come for Amy this year and I feel very privileged as a younger actor to be able to show that we can be just as capable as the other actors in the show to handle these brilliant storylines."

Are you excited for what's to come?

"I'm excited for me as an actress, I think it's going to be so, so interesting. It's all about having these new opportunities to show what you can do, which is one of the most exciting things about working in soaps which you maybe don't get in other jobs.

"I think in soaps you can make your character what they are and then have so many different directions that they can go in, it's just brilliant."

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.