Downton Abbey's Amy Nuttall: I'm not returning for third series

Amy Nuttall has revealed her Downton Abbey character Ethel Parks will make her exit from the period drama before series three begins.

Amy Nuttall, who plays Ethel Parks in Downton Abbey, has revealed her character will not be in the third series of the popular drama (Picture: ITV)

The 29-year-old beauty – who previously starred as Chloe Atkinson in Emmerdale – explained she will not be coming back for a third season of the programme, but she was reluctant to unveil details of her alter-ego's fate.
She told The Sun newspaper: 'I am not optioned for a third series, only the second, so that might give you an indication of where my character goes.'
Amy is set to play a rebellious housemaid in the show – which features Dame Maggie Smith as Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, and Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham – who caters for the aristocratic Crawley family.
The flame-haired actress – who starred in Emmerdale for five years and played fictional character Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady – believes Downton is the 'best job' she has worked on, although she admitted working with Harry Potter star Maggie was a daunting prospect because of her fame.
She added: 'I felt like a proper new girl on her first day at school with an already close-knit family that have made the series so successful.
'But they have all welcomed me with open arms.
'Added to that, on my very first day I was filming a scene with Maggie Smith which made it all the more terrifying.'