ITV Coronation Street actor breaks silence on co-star’s sad exit and heartbreaking way he found out

Coronation Street icon Alan Halsall has revealed the heartbreaking way he found out about Helen Worth’s sad exit from the soap.

The actor has played Tyrone Dobbs on the ITV soap for over two decades but one of his longest standing co-stars will be departing her role later this year after 50 years as the iconic Gail Platt.

Speaking about her exit, he said: “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.”

Helen Worth’s exit was announced a few months ago – with the actress describing it as a “perfect” time.

Speaking about her exit from the ITV soap, 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.”

Executive Producer Iain Macleod added: “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.”

He concluded: “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 athoroughly 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.”