Coronation Street fans demand to know where ‘missing’ character is ahead of Gail Platt’s exit
ITV fans have been wondering where one longstanding cast member is after they’ve been missing from Coronation Street scenes.
As ITV fans gear up to say goodbye to Gail Platt in Coronation Street after 50 years on screen, they’ve been left puzzled as she barely appears in scenes in the soap.
Actress Helen Worth, who plays Gail, is set to leave the soap soon following the storyline of her getting married for the seventh time and this time to children’s entertainer Jesse Chadwick.
Yet as the storyline builds to the wedding and Gail leaving the cobbles, the actress doesn’t appear to have had much airtime leaving viewers disappointed.
In a post on a digital forum, ITV viewers were left puzzled over Helen’s disappearance as one soap fan wrote: “Maybe she is displeased with how the events have unfolded and refused to participate to the full extent she originally planned to?
“Wasn’t it said initially (when Martin was meant to be involved) that she was very pleased with Gail’s exit storyline?
“After it was rewritten maybe she now feels it is just as unfitting as we all do and can’t bring herself to do more than the bare minimum.”
Another fan replied: “I could see this being the case. If they needed to reshoot that’s fine, but I wonder if she wasn’t going to come back for that.
“She’s not around, Jesse has no real connection to anything; there’s nothing to get out of this story.
“They may as well just say Gail exited already and is off in Thailand to be honest.”
A third shared: “So gails not appearing but random long forgotton character jesse is, seems so random, why bother having him on set at all until gail is. Known coronation st they will make him a permanent character once gail goes.”
“I feel so sorry for Helen Worth. 50 years of service, and this is the way she goes out. I doubt this will happen (because she doesn’t seem like the type) but I hope she does a tell-all interview exposing everything behind the scenes and expressing her displeasure,” said another.
Another simply added: “Helen Worth has been done such a dis-service by the show.”
Announcing her exit earlier this year, 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.”
Gail's biggest Corrie storylines
Over the years the character of Gail Platt has been the centre of several major plots.
Here we take a look back over actress Helen Worth’s biggest storylines:
Teenage daughter’s pregnancy
One of Gail’s most controversial storylines was in 1999.
It came when her 13-year-old daughter Sarah became pregnant.
Multiple marriages
Gail holds the record for the series’ most married female character.
She has been wed a whopping six times, each one worse the last.
Married to a serial killer
One of Gail’s multiple marriages saw her wed Richard Hillman, who turned out to be a serial killer.
At the climax of the storyline, 19 million fans tuned in to watch Hillman drive his wife and her family into a canal.
Scrapping on The Street
Gail has proved over the years she can’t resist a good scrap.
Her most memorable bust-up saw her attack Eileen Grimshaw on the cobbles in 2004 while in her dressing gown.
Jail bird
In 2010, Gail found herself wrongly banged up in jail.
She was wrongfully arrested for murdering her 4th husband Joe McIntyre.