Coronation Street: Gail Platt revealed as mystery bidder
Coronation Street legend Helen Worth has announced she has left the ITV soap after five decades playing Gail Platt. Following the news, we take a look into the 73-year-old's life away from the spotlight which once became not so private due to her first husband's infidelity.
In real life, the actress has been married two times, firstly to Michael Angelis, who is best known for narrating the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends children's series, followed by her second husband Trevor Dawson, who is believed to be a deputy head teacher.
Helen prefers to keep her personal life away from the spotlight, but was faced with a very public situation back in 1995 when her first husband's affair was leaked to the press. Speaking about his infidelity in 2001, she told The Mirror: "Nothing can ever prepare you for the day your husband sits you down and tells you he is having an affair.
"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."
Helen said her spouse had no choice but to tell her what was going on as pictures of him with his lover were about to be published in the press. She added: "He just said he was having an affair. I went through every emotion. I was hurt. Then angry. So angry. I tried to tell myself it wasn't happening."
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Helen Worth has quit Coronation Street after 50 years playing Gail Platt (Image: ITV)
The actress chose to forgive her husband and tried to move on from the "unbearable" time, before she discovered him cheating again which sparked their divorce.
Two yeas later, Helen tied the knot with her second spouse in 2013 at St James's Church in London.
Gushing over their big day at the time, she said: "It's been the most fantastic day, it has exceeded all expectations.
"We are thrilled that so many of our friends and family could be here to celebrate with us."
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Helen Worth played Gail Platt for 50 years after joining the soap in 1974 (Image: ITV)
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Unlike her on-screen character, Helen has never had children of her own.
She has instead dedicated her life to her career which began back in the 1960s.
Ahead of getting a role in Coronation Street, she worked with the BBC Radio repertory company and went on to have small roles in films Oliver! and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
The actress also appeared on television in the Doctor Who story Colony in Space, The Doctors, Helen: A Woman of Today, Within These Walls as well as The Carnforth Practice.
Coronation Street's Helen Worth with her husband Trevor Dawson, who she married in 2013 (Image: GETTY)
Helen began playing Gail back in 1974, a character who has had her few share of drama over the years from multiple marriages, her daughter Sarah's teenage pregnancy, bitter feuds, and falling for a serial killer.
Announcing her departure in a statement on Tuesday, she shared:"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."
Gail's soap career took off three years after she tragically lost her mother in a hit-and-run accident. Previously opening up to the Daily Star about her heartache, she shared: "The one person I really wanted to tell when I got the part of Gail was my mother.
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"She would have been so thrilled. More excited than me. She'd been there all the way - at the dance classes, holding my hand before the competitions, putting on her best suit to take me to London for auditions.
"But when I finally made it, she wasn't there to share it with me. I'd never missed her more."
Last year, the actress was awarded an MBE for her services to drama by the Prince Of Wales, ahead of her 50th soap anniversary.
The soap star will film her exit scene next month in what will be "a major storyline for the Platt family".
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