As Gail Platt is set to exit the Coronation Street after 50 years
Coronation Street fans have been left gobsmacked after Gail Platt suffered a heart attack before going into a near-fatal cardiac arrest on Wednesday (October 23). Luckily, doctors managed to save Gail’s life after she had a stent inserted into a blocked artery in very tense scenes.
Although Gail survived the terrifying ordeal, it’s no secret that the Platt matriarch will say goodbye to Weatherfield before the end of the year. The decision for Gail to be written out of the ITV soap came after actress Helen Worth decided to step back from her long-running role after celebrating an incredible 50 years on the cobbles.
The news was announced back in June with Helen, 73, saying: “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.”
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Born Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth to parents Alfred and Gladys, the star grew up in Morecambe, Lancashire – later adopting her middle name as her stage name.
Helen’s glittering soap career took off three years after she tragically lost her mother in a hit-and-run accident when the actress was 20 years old. Previously opening up to the Daily Star about her heartache, she shared: “The one person I really wanted to tell when I got the part of Gail was my mother.
“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.”
Gail and Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) are one of the soap’s most iconic mother-and-daughter duos. The two characters’ lives are regularly intertwined in some of Coronation Street’s biggest storylines.
Helen began playing Gail back in 1974, a character who has had her fair share of drama over the years from multiple marriages, her daughter Sarah’s teenage pregnancy, bitter feuds, and falling for a serial killer.
The actress also appeared on television in the Doctor Who stories Colony in Space, The Doctors, Helen: A Woman of Today, Within These Walls, and The Carnforth Practice.
Helen’s family life
Helen tends to keep her personal life away from the limelight but was faced with a very public situation back in 1995 when her first husband’s affair was leaked to the press.
Speaking about his infidelity in 2001, she told The Mirror: “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.”
She continued: “The pictures were about to be published, and he knew he had to tell me fast,” she continued. “He just said he was having an affair. I went through every emotion. I was hurt. Then angry. So angry. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t happening.”
After remaining single for some years, Helen found love again with Trevor Dawson, a deputy headmaster seven years her junior. The pair met at a friend’s 90th birthday bash and said it was ‘love at first sight’.
Speaking with the Mirror in 2016, smitten Trevor confirmed he was a Corrie fan, sharing: “We watch the show together. I had always been a fan going back some years. I used to watch it with my mum. Of course, Gail was my favourite.”
After keeping their blossoming romance under wraps for more than a year, Helen and Trevor said ‘I do’ at St James’s Church in London in 2012, surrounded by many fellow Coronation Street stars.
As they left the ceremony, the newlyweds were also greeted by nearly 200 cheering well-wishers, all of whom were happy to see Helen loved up once more.
Gushing over their big day at the time, she said: “It’s been the most fantastic day, it has exceeded all expectations. We are thrilled that so many of our friends and family could be here to celebrate with us.”
Unlike her on-screen character, Helen has never had children of her own. She has instead dedicated her life to her career, which began back in the 1960s.
Last year, the actress was awarded an MBE for her services to drama by the Prince of Wales ahead of her 50th soap anniversary. She is expected to exit the soap in the very near future.
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV and ITVX
