Entertainment
- Helen Worth will leave Coronation Street after a “major storyline” this year.
- Worth has played Gail Platt, a central character, since joining the show in 1974.
- Worth’s character has been involved in some of the soap’s most memorable plots.
Helen Worth, who has portrayed Gail Platt on Coronation Street since 1974, will step down at the end of the year following a “major storyline for the Platt family.” Worth, celebrating her 50th anniversary on the show next month, revealed that she made the decision to leave earlier this year. She expressed gratitude to the producers for their kindness and understanding.
Worth reflected, “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.”
Throughout her tenure, Worth’s character, Gail, has been at the center of numerous high-profile storylines. These include being pushed down the stairs after taking her son’s girlfriend to an abortion clinic, being mistakenly jailed for murder after her husband’s faked death went awry, and supporting her 13-year-old daughter when she became pregnant in a controversial plotline in 2000.
One of Gail’s most dramatic storylines involved her marriage to serial killer Richard Hillman, who kidnapped the Platt family and drove them into a canal. This gripping finale drew a massive audience in 2003, causing a National Grid power surge during the commercial break.
In 2014, Worth received the outstanding achievement award at the British Soap Awards for her role as Gail. She was honoured with an MBE in the 2022 birthday honours for her contributions to drama.
Executive producer Iain MacLeod praised Worth, saying, “The words ‘legend’ and ‘icon’ get used a lot these days, but they genuinely do apply to Gail and to Helen Worth. 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!”
Worth’s departure comes during a challenging period for the world’s longest-running soap. Recent criticisms from fans and former cast members have highlighted issues with the quality of its plotlines. Maureen Lipman remarked in 2022, “We’ve come to a point in Corrie now where people are getting murdered in knicker factories. We’re having domestic abuse … anything that ticks the box of social problems in the 21st century is going to be in.”
Since April, Coronation Street has had a new producer, Kate Brooks, who previously worked on Emmerdale. Worth’s exit marks one of the first significant changes under Brooks’s leadership.
Worth said, “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’s character Gail will bid farewell to Weatherfield in a storyline set to air later this year. Filming for her exit scene will begin next month.