Helen Worth’s character will say goodbye to the cobbles at the end of the year
Coronation Street’s Gail Platt will be leaving the soap at the end of this year – but it won’t be in a body bag. Actress Helen Worth announced her departure from the ITV soap opera earlier this year after starring as Gail for 50 years.
The 73-year-old actress will say goodbye to the cobbles by the end of the year, in what is now being speculated as a ‘Christmas Day wedding’ storyline. Speaking about her departure, Helen said: “This year felt like the perfect time to leave the show after celebrating 50 years in the most wonderful job on the most wonderful street in the world.
“I made the decision at the start of the year and spoke to the producers who were very kind and understanding. I have been truly blessed to have been given the most incredible scripts week in and week out and to have worked with fantastic actors, directors and a brilliant crew.
“The past 50 years have flown by and I don’t think the fact that I am leaving has quite sunk in yet.” It’s been rumoured that Helen’s character Gail will get married one final time this Christmas.
A source told the Irish Mirror: “The wedding scenes are being filmed at the moment and when they air, viewers will be gripped. As with any soap wedding, they will have to wait to see whether Gail makes it down the aisle or not. And with a character as popular as her, they will be hoping she finally gets a happy ending.”
However, fans need not worry about Gail meeting her demise, as often happens in soap weddings. Executive producer Iain Macleod recently spoke to the Daily Star in July and revealed: “Gail won’t die. It didn’t feel like killing her off would be right. Gail’s exit is a brilliant story, I thought what do viewers want to see?
“Gail has had a hard life. She had a difficult childhood and some disastrous marriages. So, we thought what viewers really want is a happy ending for her, so that’s what we’re doing.”
Having joined the Cobbles in July 1974, Helen’s character has been a prominent figure in a number of explosive storylines gripping the soap over the years. Her ill-fated love life has come to define the character, having suffered an affair and the deaths of four of her five husbands.
