Coronation Street legend Helen Worth recently left the ITV soap after 50 years, meaning her spot on the show’s “walk of fame” became available for a new star

Coronation Street’s very own Jack P. Shepherd has opened up about passing on the opportunity to take his on-screen mum Helen Worth’s dressing room after her exit from the soap. Helen has starred as Gail Platt for over 50 years, but earlier this year, the 73-year-old confirmed she would be leaving the cobbles behind.

It meant Helen’s dressing room on the show’s iconic “golden corridor” would become available for another star. The section is home to the likes of Bill Roache who has played Ken Barlow since 1960, and Sally Dynevor, who made her debut as Sally Metcalfe in 1986.

Speaking during the latest episode of the On the Sofa podcast, Colson Smith, who plays Craig Tinker in Corrie, explained: “Getting your own dressing room at Corrie is a big, big deal. We’re talking like 20 years of service minimum.”

Jack, who has played David Platt for 24 years, said show bosses called him and offered him Helen’s spot on the “walk of fame”. However, having recently decorated his own dressing room, he decided to stay put, with Sam Aston, who plays Chesney Brown, taking the coveted space instead.

He said: “They offered it to me. I got the phone call, this is how big a deal this is, and they went, ‘it’s a dressing room, Jack’. My head immediately went, ‘what have I been doing, and where are the cameras’?”

The star went on to reveal he has personalised his own dressing room during his time on the show. He said: “I’ve put all posters and everything up so there’s a lot going on, and I’d just done that.

“I got the call and they went, ‘dressing room, Helen’s is becoming available’ and I went, ‘right’ and they said, ‘would you want to go into Helen’s?’ The reason they’re offering me that is because there’s a bit of this walk of fame section, like a legends section, where you’ve got Bill Roache, Barbara, Helen, Dave Neilson, Sally Dynevor, Sue Nicholls, there’s those types of people who have been in the show for 40 years plus.”

“They said, ‘do you want to go there?’ and I said, ‘no, because I’ve just decorated my room’ but they went, ‘we are going to give it to Ches’ and I said, ‘lead on’.”

Coronation Street’s Jack P Shepherd(Image: Jack P Shepherd Instagram)

Helen left the popular soap on Christmas day. After her final scenes aired, she shared: “It’s been a fabulous 50 years and I just wanted to thank all of you some of you who may have been watching for 50 – is there anybody?

“And those of you who have been watching for a few years thank you. Thanks for coming on the journey with me. I’ve had a wonderful time.”