Coronation Street star Jodie Prenger revealed she was ‘gutted’ over Helen Worth’s upcoming soap exit.
At the beginning of the month it was confirmed Helen, who has played Gail Platt for nearly 50 years, will start filming her final storyline next month, with the departure expected to air last this year.
Speaking at the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) Awards, Jodie, 45, who plays Glenda Shuttleworth on the soap, was asked about Helen’s exit.
‘She’s lovely and grounded and everything you want a Corrie legend to be,’ she told The Sun.
‘It’s a massive, massive loss but she’s one of these iconic women that have paved the way for other women to come and surround her.
‘She’ll be a great loss, but I hope we can carry the torch for her.’
Speaking about her decision to leave Weatherfield, 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.’
Executive Producer Iain Macleod also added: ‘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 – often deriving from her catastrophically bad luck in choosing husbands!
‘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.
Metro.co.uk understands that the happy ending won’t be explosive, but rather an emotional affair that will happen around Christmas time.
