Coronation Street icon Helen Worth recently announced she’s leaving the soap after 50 years as Gail Platt.
The actress, 73, who has played Gail on the ITV soap since 1974, said that she made the decision to quit as 50 years felt like a ‘perfect time to leave the show’.
Gail become known on the soap for her signature hairdo, her several on-screen romances, and many failed marriages.
She will still be on our screens until the end of the year, with a dramatic exit planned for her character, with Corrie bosses teasing that it would be ’emotional’, per MailOnline.
Now The Mirror has claimed Gail will wed for a seventh time ahead of her leaving the cobbles.
It comes after The Sun claimed viewers can expect to see ‘many twists and turns’ in Gail’s exit storyline. A source said: ‘A number of options were considered for Gail’s departure from the cobbles but bosses knew the moment needed to truly celebrate one of Corrie’s most iconic characters as well as honour Helen’s astonishing run on the soap.’
‘It just didn’t sit right to kill her off or have Gail suffer more tragedy after, let’s face it, a pretty traumatic life,’ they continued. ‘Martin was always considered the one that got away and bosses are thrilled they’ve been able to tempt Sean back to wave Gail goodbye.’
In a statement, announcing her exit, 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 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.’
Gail Platt is the mother of three children, Nick, Sarah and David, and has been married five times to Brian Tilsley, Martin Platt, Richard Hillman, Joe McIntyre and Michael Rodwell.
Executive Producer of Coronation Street Iain MacLeod paid tribute to Gail’s time on the show, including her ground-breaking storylines calling her ‘one of the Corrie greats’ and paid tribute to her ‘catastrophically bad luck in choosing husbands’.
Iain said: ‘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.
‘Her ill-fated marriage to Richard Hillman was one of the most ground-breaking stories in soap history and cemented Gail’s already established status as one of the Corrie greats.’
‘As the matriarch of the Platt clan, her affectionately prickly relationships with her kids and flighty mum Audrey epitomise what makes the show great: complicated family dynamics brought to life impeccably by Helen’s dramatic and comedic chops, alongside those of her fictional clan.
‘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.’
