It was a Christmas Day to remember on and off-screen as Coronation Street icon Helen Worth bid farewell to Weatherfield after five decades as the beloved Gail Platt. But the tears didn’t stop when the cameras did.
In an emotional behind-the-scenes moment, Helen, unaware of the surprise waiting for her, was left visibly moved as cast and crew gathered en masse to celebrate her monumental contribution to the show.
Her final filmed scene saw Gail surrounded by her family in the Platts’ living room, fittingly marking her exit in the heart of her onscreen world. But as the first assistant director called ‘cut’ for the last time, Helen’s real-life Corrie family revealed themselves, stepping out from the shadows to applaud her extraordinary career.
Helen addressed the hundreds of colleagues who had gathered: ‘The reason I’ve been here all these years, and it’s a lot of years – more than I can think about really – is because of all of you people. Some of you have been here for all those fifty years, others for half that time, but I couldn’t have done any of it without you. You are the most amazing team of people, and I really do say thank you.’
Choking up as she turned to her on-screen family, she added: ‘And as for this lot, who didn’t tell me… Oh God, I love them so much. I don’t quite know what I’m going to do without you. But thank you for everything.’
Sue Nicholls, who plays her mother Audrey, led the studio in three cheers, while Jack P Shepherd (David Platt) revealed how important it was to give Helen the send-off she deserved.
‘It was important to us all that we were in her final scene and able to give her the send-off she deserves,’ he said. ‘All the other crews filming that day stood down, and there were hundreds of people there to say goodbye.’
As Helen drove Gail away from the cobbles for the last time, her Coronation Street legacy was cemented – both on screen and in the hearts of everyone who worked alongside her.
Coronation Street continues on ITV1 at 8:00pm tomorrow Catch up on ITVX, and for classic visits to Corrie, these episodes air weekdays on ITV3 as well as on YouTube.
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