Huge Coronation Street star poised to bag big money offer to sign up for Strictly – & it could cause a nightmare for ITV
Corrie chiefs admitted there was nothing they could do to stop the star joining
THE BBC is considering offering Coronation Street star Helen Worth a place on Strictly Come Dancing.
The ITV soap star announced this week she is quitting the cobbles after 50 years — with her final scenes to be aired at the end of this year.
But if she takes up the potential offer to join Strictly, it means her emotional Corrie swansong could be screening around the time she gets glammed-up to hit the Beeb show’s dance floor.
Helen, 73, who plays Gail Rodwell, formerly Platt, is due to start filming her final storyline next month — which means she could be available for Strictly when it kicks off in September.
She is said to be a massive fan of the dance show and yesterday Corrie chiefs admitted there was nothing they could do to stop her joining.
A TV insider said: “This really would be a disaster for the show because they want the focus to be on Gail’s big exit, the details of which are being kept under wraps.
“But it raises the prospect of her potentially featuring in a storyline where she is seen dying of a terminal illness during the week, then popping up on a Saturday night, potentially dancing as a zombie on Strictly’s Halloween special. Not a good look.”
Helen’s announcement that she is leaving Weatherfield stunned the TV world.
She 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 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 crew.”
Although the soap is filmed in Manchester, she made the regular commute north from London, where she lives with husband Trevor Dawson.
A Strictly stint would mean far shorter trips to the rehearsal studios, which are dotted around the capital, and to Elstree Studios, Herts, where the show is filmed.
Helen would be a perfect choice for Strictly because its diverse line-up always requires an older star in the mix — and getting a former soap actress of her calibre would be a real coup.
She would be the latest in a string of former Corrie stars to have signed up for the contest, including her screen daughter Tina O’Brien (Sarah Platt), Georgia May Foote (Katy Armstrong), Catherine Tyldesley (Eva Price) and last year’s winner, Ellie Leach (Faye Windass).
A spokesman for Strictly said: “We do not comment on speculation.”
