Helen Worth has spoken out on why she really left Coronation Street - a year and a half after the high-profile soap exit. 

The actress, 75, played the iconic character of Gail Platt for 50 years and has now spoken in a new interview about what led her to say goodbye to the show.

During her time on the show Helen was married five times, including to Brian Tilsey (Christopher Quinten), who was tragically stabbed to death, and Martin Platt (Sean Wilson), one of the soap's long-serving characters.

Helen had been at the centre of an array of explosive storylines, including her daughter Sarah's teenage pregnancy, and the death of her fourth debt-ridden husband Joe McIntyre (Reece Dinsdale) during a failed life insurance scheme.

One of Gail's most iconic moments came in a 2003 episode when she found out her husband Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) was a serial killer.

Helen has spoken out about how filming felt increasingly tough and tiring particularly in the last year before she left - which cemented her decision to step away.

She told The Sun: 'It was only a bit towards the end when I got a bit tired. But the first, how many years? 49 years, were a dream.'

Helen added: 'My final husband, John Thomson, was absolutely gorgeous to me, because by then I was rattling a bit. It was around about 4,000 episodes and I was rattling a little bit.'

She added: 'I had good and bad days… but then you forget the bad days and you just remember the good days.' 

Helen then said she wouldn't ever go back to the soap full time. 

Helen shared a heartwarming goodbye message after her dramatic exit from Coronation Street on Christmas Day 2024.

The soap star took to X to send a video to fans thanking them for following her throughout her time on the ITV show. 

Helen's final scenes were shown that Christmas in an emotional moment that saw her start 'day one of her new life' with husband Jesse Chadwick (John Thompson) abroad.

And following the emotional episode, Helen took to X to thank fans and promised more Platt family storylines to come.

Dressed in a smart blue blazer over a bright red turtle neck and sat in her iconic living room, Helen said it had been a pleasure to work on the soap and be part of the Platt family for so long. 

She said: 'Hello all of you. It's wonderful to have this opportunity to say ta ta.

'It's been a fabulous 50 years and I just wanted to thank all of you some of you who may have been watching for 50 - is there anybody?

'And those of you who have been watching for a few years thank you.

'Thanks for coming on the journey with me. I've had a wonderful time.

'I've loved it, all the stories and of course it's been wonderful working with the wonderful Platts which for me is what it's all about and there'll be more Platt stories and I hope you'll be watching.

'Lots of love and thanks from me.'

Helen's final episode was as action-packed as her 50 years on the soap had been and the Christmas day storyline saw an engagement, a pregnancy, an arrest, multiple fights and a lot tears.