Helen Worth will bid farewell to Weatherfield after 50 years in emotional scenes tonight
Coronation Street viewers are preparing to say goodbye to Gail Platt for the last time tonight. The character, played by Helen Worth, will officially exit the Cobbles tonight after 50 memorable years.
The soap icon is preparing to marry Jesse Chadwick in tonight’s Christmas Day episode. However, doubts have crept in over whether she should tie the knot once again after she has previously been so unlucky in love on the show.
In last night’s episode, Gail’s anxieties manifested in infamous former husband, Richard Hillman, returning in shock scenes, with it remaining up in the air of whether she will get a happy ending on the soap. Whatever happens, Gail’s legacy on the Cobbles is secured as she will always be regarded as one of the soap’s most legendary characters.
Gail admitted the decision to leave the role was difficult, but said reaching the 50th anniversary means it felt like the ideal time to depart. In her exit statement in June, the 73-year-old 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.”
The legendary soap star added: “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.”
Helen first joined the show in 1974 and her storylines explored Gail’s rocky relationship with mum Audrey Roberts. Away from the screen, Helen’s life was rocked by tragedy just before joining as her mum was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
According to the Daily Star, she spoke about how she was devastated her mum never got to see her in the iconic role as Gail. She said: “She would have been so thrilled. More excited than me.
“She’d been there all the way – at the dance classes, holding my hand before the competitions, putting on her best suit to take me to London for auditions. But when I finally made it, she wasn’t there to share it with me. I’d never missed her more.”
Helen has also experienced a rocky love life as she married actor Michael Angelis in 1991, who is renowned for his role in Boys from the Blackstuff and being the narrator of Thomas the Tank Engine. The two had been dating since the mid 1970s and were married for 10 years, but it ended in divorce after Michael confessed to having two affairs.
Michael was raised in Dingle and also appeared in shows such as The Liver Birds, The Bill and Midsomer Murders before he died in 2020 aged 76.
In an interview with The Mirror in 2001, Helen revealed how she was heartbroken after her ex husband admitted the second affair. She said: “Nothing can ever prepare you for the day your husband sits you down and tells you he is having an affair.
“My marriage was everything to me. It was the foundation on which everything else was built. I had been with Michael for nearly half of my life. I never imagined that we wouldn’t grow old together. When he told me, everything just went black. Things started to make sense. Maybe I realised right away that something like that had been bound to happen. Things hadn’t been right for some time, but – naively maybe – I didn’t think it was serious. I knew there was a problem. I just didn’t know it was me.”
Helen and Michael remained on positive terms as she added: “He was called a love rat and a cheat. But he wasn’t. That’s not how it was, things are never that easy. He just met someone who made him happier than I could. It wasn’t a crime. It was just desperately sad.
“I know now that Michael suffered as much as I did. He still loved me when he left. It tore him apart that he was hurting me. He would never willingly have caused me pain. He is the gentlest man I know.”
Helen found love again when she married second husband Trevor Dawson in 2013. She told Nigel Havers on This Morning how it was “love at first sight” when she met Trevor at a mutual friend’s 90th birthday party.
She said: “I met Trevor about 10 years ago and I just thank my lucky stars really. He’s just gorgeous.” Gail Platt’s Coronation Street exit will be broadcast at 7pm on ITV tonight