CORONATION Street's Gail Platt is set to exit the show but bosses say she won’t meet a grisly end.
It was revealed last month that Helen Worth had decided to leave her role as Gail after 50 years.
Coronation Street fans immediately started to speculate how ITV bosses will write her out of the soap.
But producers have now revealed it will be a departure rather than an untimely end for the mother of Sarah, Nick and David.
Helen, 73, first appeared on the show in 1974 – half a century ago - and is one of the soaps longest-serving characters.
Bosses at Corrie have not said when she will depart from the cobbles or how, but have assured fans that she will have a ‘happy ending’ after many years of drama.
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Coronation Street's Executive Producer Iain MacLeod confirmed to the Daily Star’s Hot TV column that; “Gail won't die. It didn’t feel like killing her off would be right.
"Gail’s exit is a brilliant story, I thought what do viewers want to see?
“Gail has had a hard life. She had a difficult childhood and some disastrous marriages. So, we thought what viewers really want is a happy ending for her, so that's what we're doing."
As Helen prepares for her final scenes, she approves of the scriptwriter's plans for her departure.
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Ian joked: "Helen loves the storyline," adding: "Recently, she described it by saying, 'It's the perfect ending for Gail', so I can sleep soundly at night.
"You don't want to inflict an ending on someone after 50 years that they're not happy with."
Coronation Street legend quits soap after 50 years
The Sun previously revealed how her exit storyline would see her reunite with former husband, Martin Platt.
Gail's experiences on the show include her marriages, family feuds, coping with her daughter's teenage pregnancy, divorces, and discovering unsettling truths about her partners.
She faced challenges like being kidnapped, imprisoned and in unexpectedly difficult situations.
Some of her explosive storylines include marrying Brian Tilsley (Christopher Quinten), before being terrorised by his mother Ivy.
MARRIAGE WOES
She went on to have an affair with Brian's cousin, Ian Latimer when Brian was killed in a knife attack, and then married the much younger Martin Platt (Sean Wilson).
She has also had to cope with her Sarah falling pregnant at the age of 13 and divorcing Martin after his affair with a colleague.
She hoped for third time lucky when she married Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) but he turned out to be a serial killer who kidnapped her, Sarah, David, and her granddaughter Bethany Platt and driving them all into the canal.
But she escaped the clutches of death to go on to have many more gripping storylines.
FEUDING FAMILIES
Viewers will also remember her feud with Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) after her son Todd (Bruno Langley) came out as gay while dating Sarah.
She threw David out after he hid drugs in Bethany's toys, but he retaliated by pushing her down the stairs after he discovered she had taken Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) to a private abortion clinic to terminate a pregnancy fathered by David.
Then she tied the knot with Tina's father Joe McIntyre (Reece Dinsdale), but was later imprisoned for Joe's murder when his plan to fake his own life went wrong.
After getting out of jail she jumped into a relationship with Audrey's ex-partner Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers) only for him to con her out of all her money.
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Her fifth husband was the burglar who robbed her home, Michael Rodwell (Les Dennis), but that ended in divorce too.
Coronation Street's 2024 shock exits
Corrie has said goodbye to several cast members this year. Let's break down who's left the famous soap:
Eliza Woodrow (Savannah Kunyo) has said farewell to Corrie to start a new life in Germany.
The youngster moved to live with her dad Dom Everett, who went back on the £10,000 bribe Eliza's grandfather Stu had offered to keep him out of her life.
Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) will bow out of the soap this summer when he loses his fight with motor neurone disease (MND) in tragic scenes.
After being diagnosed last year, the fan favourite was devastated to learn he only had months left to live.
Viewers know he is planning to take his own life to end his suffering.
Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby) departed the cobbles after being offered the opportunity of a lifetime to study in America.
Though she struggled to decide with her stepdad Paul’s impending death from MND, she was convinced she had to live her life to the full.
Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) has struggled with the sudden departure of his father Peter from the cobbles.
The Weatherfield legend left his family and loved ones behind on Boxing Day, 2023, when his wife Carla Connor encouraged him to travel around the world with a friend.
Simon's been on a downward spiral ever since and his exit could end in tragedy.
Alya Nazir is set to leave the cobbles as actress Sair Khan prepares to go on maternity leave ahead of the birth of her first child.
It looks likely she'll be heading to Dublin after securing a lucrative new job, leaving her colleague and fling Adam Barlow behind.
Show stalwart Sue Cleaver, who plays Eileen Grimshaw, is taking a break to star in the Sister Act The Musical UK tour. She will be back filming in May once her dates on the tour come to an end.
Her character left the Street after her son Jason broke his back after falling off a moped in Asia.
