Helen Worth is one of Coronation Street’s longest appearing stars after 50 years on the widely popular soap.
She has spent 50 years portraying the unlucky-in-love Gail Platt, who has had five husbands - four of whom have died.
However, in real life she has been much more successful when it comes to love.
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Childhood
Helen’s birth name is actually Cathryn Helen Wigglesworth and she was born on 7 January 1951 - making her 73 years old.
She was raised in Morecambe in Lancashire by her parents Alfred and Gladys Wigglesworth.
The actress had a foster brother named Wilson Kpikpitse who was born in Ghana and later sent to England to be an overseas student aged 11.
Helen’s mother was killed in a hit-and-run road accident during a visit to Brighton and Wilson moved away after that.
Reason for leaving Coronation Street
Helen opened up about her decision to leave Coronation Street after marking 50 years.
“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,” she shared. “I made the decision at the start of the year and spoke to the producers, who were very kind and understanding.”
The soap star continued: “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.”
First marriage
Helen first married Michael Angelis in 1991 but the couple divorced in 2001 after his multiple affairs.
He first cheated in 1991 but Helen forgave him as she later said her marriage was everything to her and that it was the foundation on which everything else in her life was built on.
Michael had another affair with model Jennifer Khalastchi which led to the couple’s divorce.
“Nothing can ever prepare you for the day your husband sits you down and tells you he is having an affair,” she told The Mirror in 2001.
“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. I knew there was a problem. I just didn't know it was me.”
Helen’s husband, who was a narrator on Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, later married Jennifer and remained with her until his death.
However, Helen and her first husband remained friends and regularly met up for lunch until he passed in 2020.
She said: “He was called a love rat and a cheat. But he wasn't. That's not how it was, things are never that easy. He just met someone who made him happier than I could. It wasn't a crime. It was just desperately sad.
“I know now that Michael suffered as much as I did. He still loved me when he left. It tore him apart that he was hurting me. He would never willingly have caused me pain. He is the gentlest man I know.”
Second marriage
After her divorce in 2001, Helen remained single for several years. However, she found love again and tied the knot for a second time on 6 April 2013 to music teacher Trevor Dawson.
They first met at a mutual friend’s 90th birthday party and said it was “love at first sight”.
The couple had a secret relationship for over a year before Trevor got down on one knee.
Her now-husband says he was a fan of Coronation Street before he met Helen and that her character Gail was “of course” his favourite.
While he previously sat down to enjoy the show with his mum, he now watches it with Helen.
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