Coronation Street is set for a tearful, dramatic Christmas Day as a beloved character bids farewell. Helen Worth, who has portrayed Gail Platt for an impressive 50 years, will be leaving the ITV soap.
As she plans to start anew with Jesse Chadwick, will there be a happy ending for this fan favourite?
The final episode promises drama, revelations, betrayals and a mix of laughter and tears, potentially leading to heartbreak. The details of Gail's departure and her last scenes will remain confidential until the episode airs.
But what do we know about the behind-the-scenes happenings as Corrie prepares to bid adieu to one of its most iconic characters?
There was a last-minute script revision, a touching surprise for Helen, and an emotionally charged farewell party. The episode will also feature special moments that leave her co-stars heartbroken over Helen's exit, reports the Mirror.
Here's all we can disclose about Gail's onscreen and offscreen goodbye.
Coronation Street's boss, Kate Brooks, recently confirmed that Helen Worth's final scenes as Gail will air on Christmas Day, amidst a flurry of shocking revelations and plot twists. The episode promises to be a big one, culminating in Gail's departure from Weatherfield for good.
According to Kate, viewers can expect to be "crying and gasping" at the unfolding drama. Speaking to The Mirror, Kate revealed: "[The episode is] set against Gail's wedding, whether she goes through with that or not, I cannot tell anything. But this is a story with the Platts at the heart of it, it's really festive, basically it's a story about family and how secrets impact and implode on a family."
She added: "So there's a lot of betrayals, lots of secrets are exposed during this episode and it will be like classic Corrie with a bit of a twist. [We want] to make sure that we give glorious Gail the exit that she deserves."
"She's been such an icon on the street for such a long time. 50 years of television, which is amazing. We can't tell a story on Christmas Day about her exit without it feeling and being steeped in nostalgia."
"There's tons of nostalgia in this episode and hopefully people will be crying, they'll be laughing, there'll be gasps as people watching it go, 'Oh my goodness, that's just happened' but yeah, old school Corrie but just with a real modern twist and I think people will really, really enjoy it."
This sets the stage for Gail's emotional exit storyline.
Gail recently broke the news to her family about her plans to marry Jesse and relocate. She revealed her intentions for her and Jesse to start a new life in the south of France after their nuptials.
As Gail's departure approaches, there are expected to be some major revelations, with Corrie's Kate hinting that "secrets come to the forefront", and Gail discovering she's been betrayed by those closest to her. This leaves her questioning whether she can proceed with her wedding, and by the end of the Christmas Day episode, viewers will see Gail saying goodbye to Coronation Street in scenes described as "wonderful and sad".
Her own mother plots to halt the wedding, eventually giving her heartbroken daughter an ultimatum. But could this permanently sever their relationship?
Audrey shocks Gail by telling her that if she marries Jesse, their relationship is over.
She warns: "You'll never see me again" leaving Gail in tears - so what will Gail decide?
Earlier this year Helen said it "felt right" to step down after 50 glorious years on the soap as one of its most beloved and well-known characters.
Helen 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."
She 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."
Soap chief Iain MacLeod also weighed in on the significant news. He expressed: "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! "Her ill-fated marriage to Richard Hillman was one of the most ground-breaking stories in soap history and cemented Gail's already established status as one of the Corrie greats.
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. "Gail has given us countless hours of entertainment but it should also be said that Helen herself is a consummate professional and a thoroughly good egg. Everyone connected to the show will miss having her around the place just as much as the viewers will miss having her on their screens and we wish her all the very best for the future."
The much-anticipated Christmas Day episode of the beloved soap will unfold under the potentially joyous event of Gail's nuptials to her love interest Jesse Chadwick. Yet, as she readies herself for this new chapter, doubts creep in.
Gail faces a torrent of emotions and revelations that leave her questioning if tying the knot with Jesse is the right decision. The suspense around whether she will proceed with the wedding remains sky-high, as the soap's producers keep their lips sealed on the outcome.
In an exclusive chat with The Mirror, Jack P Shepherd, who portrays David Platt, disclosed his role in instigating a pivotal alteration to the final scene ever filmed by Helen Worth as Gail. With filming schedules not always aligning with onscreen sequence, it turned out Helen's concluding scenes as Gail didn't include her screen family entirely.
Jack, realizing the significance of the moment, insisted on a change to ensure a fitting send-off that encompassed the whole Platt clan. After Jack voiced his concerns, the scriptwriters and production team adjusted accordingly, enabling the full cast to partake in these touching final moments.
Jack recounted: "Her last scene filming was a scene with me and Julia. It was in the Platts."
"That was her last scene, and I went, no, no, her last scene has to be all of us. We all have to be there. They said there wasn't one where you're all together, and so I went, 'well f***ing write it! Write it! You know, you can.'""So they went, yeah, we can, and they did. They wrote one. [I just wanted to] make sure we're all together in the Platts when she finally goes. Don't just have someone random with her or whatever. So they did. And luckily, they were able to do it and schedule it."
Jack also shared his experience filming his final scenes with Helen, each Platt child having their own moment with Gail before her departure in her last ever episode. Jack found the "emotional" moment challenging to film, even telling the director he would have to do it in one take as he found it hard to bid farewell to his beloved co-star after 25 years.
He revealed: "We all had our own emotional scenes with her, separately. I think there's this thing where she comes to each of us separately and basically gives us a goodbye. Even in the rehearsals, I couldn't really run it. I couldn't really do it."
"I've only got one go at it. I've only got one take. I knew there'd be tears and there wouldn't be anything else left. I told the director John Anderson, 'I can't do it.'".
"I went, 'Are you doing the close shots first? ' and he said we'd do the close shots. I said, 'I'll do the close ones. Get Helen and me, and then we can do wides and everything. But if we're gonna do it, because it's me saying goodbye to Helen, it's Helen saying goodbye to me after 25 years, I'm only probably going to have one in me'."
"Helen was worried about getting the lines right. And I said it doesn't matter, does it? Just say whatever you want. She's saying goodbye, you know. So, yeah, we did it and it's really good."
"There were people on other units and other blocks and everything who were watching all the monitors and were saying it was really nice."
"[The studio] was full. So there was about 400 or 500 people in the studio. They all came down. And Lee, the first Assistant Director, came up to me and he went, 'What do you want to do? Because I've got every unit saying that they want to break and they all want to come in and say goodbye'."
"And he went, 'If I ask her she'll say no so what should we do? '. I said, 'Ah, just f***ing do it. Just do it'. She'll cry. She'll be emotional. But you're meant to. It's 50 years."
Speaking of Helen's wish for a low-key exit, Jack revealed: "She wanted to do the back door. Didn't want to create a fuss for people. I said, it's not so much for you, it's for the building. It's for everyone."
Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community hereand get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
After filming the poignant scene with the Platts, emotions ran high as Helen and her Weatherfield mates celebrated at The Bistro. Heartache among co-stars was palpable; on-screen son Jack was especially touched by her departure.
Julia Goulding, who plays Shona, admitted she was heartbroken over Helen's farewell, telling us: "It was horrendous and emotional on so many levels. From my point of view, personally, I've not only worked with Helen for eight years but I've watched her since I can remember."
With affection, she added about Gail's character and Helen, "The last eight years getting to know Helen as a person as well. It was incredibly emotional, but off you go Helen... enjoy! ".
Alan Halsall, who plays Tyrone Dobbs, has shared his surprise at Helen's departure from Coronation Street. He commented: "It came as a surprise to a lot of us. I know she said it to the people that are part of her family but it came as a surprise to a lot of us. Helen is one of the top three legends - like Bill Roache, Barbara Knox and Helen. They're the matriarch and patriarchs of Coronation Street. To lose somebody like that - and for the show to lose someone like Gail, who has had some incredible stories over the year with her husbands, it will be a real loss for the show."
As for Helen's farewell party, Jack P. Shepherd revealed that her husband Trevor Dawson attended as the cast celebrated with a speech that moved everyone to tears.
Jack recounted: "It was really nice. We had the thing in the bistro, champagne, a few drinks on her last day. It was really lovely. They did a really nice montage."
"It was great. Everybody was very happy. Me, Ben [Price] and Tina [O'Brien], we gave a little speech. It really was [lovely]."
In a surprising twist, Helen paid homage to Gail's five ex-husbands - Brian Tilsley, Martin Platt, Richard Hillman, Joe McIntyre and Michael Rodwell - by wearing a special T-shirt.
Jack reminisced about a memorable farewell moment when she entered the Corrie restaurant to the iconic theme tune of the soap, wearing a T-shirt listing all her ex-husbands' names. While speaking on the On The Sofa podcast alongside fellow Coronation Street actors Ben Price and Colson Smith, he mentioned, as quoted by The Sun: "I thought that was a nice touch, that was quite amusing."
He shared how she gave a heartfelt speech and expressed how much she would miss everyone, which led to many tears as she didn't originally want a big send-off.
Ben Price, who plays Helen's on-screen son Nick Tilsley, noted that they had to organise a private event saying, "You don't want to make too much of it, but if you don't have a private room, you've got a whole table of The Platts. It's just awkward."
He emphasised the personal nature of the departure, adding, "It's The Platts' Christmas do and it just stops a place. It was a really personal moment for us all. I think she had a really good send-off. We'll miss her."
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.
)
)
)
)
)
English (US) ·