Coronation Street’s Helen Worth’s life off-screen from family heartache to quitting soap
Coronation Street star Helen Worth has played Gail Platt for an incredible 50 years, but the actress will soon be leaving the ITV soap after her character suffered a heart attack.
Corrie enthusiasts were left in shock when stalwart Gail Platt suffered a heart attack and was whisked to the brink of death with a near-fatal cardiac arrest in Wednesday’s (October 23) hair-raising episode. The drama didn’t stop there, as it was all hands on deck, with doctors saving Gail by placing a stent within the nick of time.
Despite Gail’s harrowing scrape with death, it’s no big secret that she’s set to bid adieu to Weatherfield before this year bows out. Helen Worth, who’s been the soul of Gail for a staggering half-century, has chosen to take a step back from the iconic role, sparking the end of an era on ITV’s beloved soap.
Back in June, the scoop came out when Helen, at age 73, expressed: “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 veteran actress continued to share her gratitude, saying: “I have been truly blessed to have been given the most incredible scripts week in and 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, known initially as Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth to her folks Alfred and Gladys, started life in Morecambe, Lancashire, before her stage name took the limelight, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Helen’s sparkling career on the cobbles soared three years after the heartbreaking loss of her mum in a devastating hit-and-run when she was just 20. Revealing her sorrow to the Daily Star, she confided: “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 (played by Sue Nicholls) make up Coronation Street’s legendary mother-daughter tag team, which is consistently at the heart of the show’s juiciest plots.
Since stepping into Gail’s shoes in 1974, Helen has navigated her character through a maze of drama dealing with several hubbies, her daughter Sarah’s unexpected teenage pregnancy saga, intense squabbles, and even being charmed by a mass murderer.
Besides the Street, Helen has graced our screens in Doctor Who’s Colony in Space, The Doctors, Helen: A Woman of Today, Within These Walls, and The Carnforth Practice.
When it comes to her private life, Helen tends to keep things under wraps. However, back in ’95, she didn’t have much choice when her then-hubby’s affair hit the headlines.
Explaining the turmoil of discovering her husband’s affair back in 2001, she spilled to 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 then added: “The pictures were about to be published, and he knew he had to tell me fast. 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 a spell of being single, Helen found her heart had room for romance once more, falling for Trevor Dawson, a dashing deputy headmaster seven years her junior. Their paths crossed at a party thrown for a friend’s 90th birthday, and they both felt sparks fly immediately.
In a 2016 interview with the Mirror, Trevor clearly besotted and a self-professed Corrie supporter, confessed: “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.”
Helen and Trevor tied the knot at St James’s Church in London back in 2012, with a host of Coronation Street celebs in attendance. As they emerged from the church, nearly 200 fans cheered on the happy couple.
Reflecting on their special day, Helen shared: “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.”
Despite her character’s different path in life, Helen herself chose not to have children, focusing instead on a career that kicked off in the swinging sixties.
Last year, Helen was honoured with an MBE for her services to drama by the Prince of Wales, just before marking half a century on the soap. Rumours suggest she might soon be saying farewell to the cobbles.
