The actress has been the star of some of Coronation Street's most memorable storylines. Photo / Getty Images
The actress has been the star of some of Coronation Street's most memorable storylines. Photo / Getty Images
The matriarch of the Platt family will be leaving the show with one final ‘major storyline’.
Helen Worth is to leave Coronation Street after 50 years of playing Gail Platt.
The actress joined the ITV soap in 1974 and has been the star of some of its most memorable storylines.
They include losing first husband Brian Tilsley to a knife attack, discovering that her 13-year-old daughter was pregnant and surviving marriage to a serial killer, who drove her into a canal.
Helen has been married six times in Coronation Street. Photo / Getty Images
She 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, 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.”
Worth joined Coronation Street’s cast when she was just 23, taking on the role of Gail, who was only intended to be a minor character.
But Gail proved popular and became the subject of endless dramas revolving around her family.
She has been married six times and is known to most viewers as Gail Platt, following her marriage to Martin Platt in the 1990s. She went on to marry Richard Hillman, who turned out to be a murderer – “Norman Bates with a briefcase”, as Gail branded him.
She is currently Gail Rodwell, after marrying Michael Rodwell (Les Dennis), who once burgled her house.
To date, Worth has appeared in more than 4000 episodes, not far short of the record held by 92-year-old William Roache, who has played Ken Barlow for the past 64 years.
Most viewers know Helen as Gail Platt, following her marriage to Martin Platt in the 1990s. Photo / Getty Images
‘Legend’ and ‘icon’
Iain Macleod, the show’s executive producer, said of her work: “The words ‘legend’ and ‘icon’ get used a lot these days but they genuinely do apply to Gail and to Helen Worth.
“However, given her humility, I know Helen won’t thank me for saying so. In Helen’s hands, Gail has been a huge part of Coronation Street for five decades and at the centre of some of the most memorable storylines – often deriving from her catastrophically bad luck in choosing husbands.”
He added: “Gail has given us countless hours of entertainment, but it should also be said that Helen herself is a consummate professional and a thoroughly good egg.
“Everyone connected to the show will miss having her around the place just as much as the viewers will miss having her on their screens and we wish her all the very best for the future.”
