Gail Platt
Gail Platt is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Helen Worth. The character first appeared on-screen on 29 July 1974. Gail is the daughter of Audrey Roberts and Ted Page and is the mother of Nick Tilsley, Sarah Platt and David Platt and has featured in some of the most controversial and high-profile storylines in the soap involving her family and her number of relationships – she is the soap's most married female character, having been married seven times. In June 2024, it was announced that Worth had decided to leave Coronation Street after 50 years. She made her on-screen departure from the soap in December of that year. Worth will reprise the role for a one-off at Christmas 2025, a year following her departure.
Gail's storylines include her marriage to Brian Tilsley ; her vicious feud with her mother-in-law Ivy Tilsley ; her affair with Brian's cousin Ian Latimer ; coping when Brian is killed in a knife attack; marrying the much younger Martin Platt ; coping when her teenage daughter Sarah gets pregnant at the age of 13; divorcing Martin after he has an affair with his colleague Rebecca Hopkins ; marrying Richard Hillman, who she discovers is a serial killer; being kidnapped with Sarah, David and her granddaughter Bethany Platt by Richard and being driven into the canal by him; her feud with Eileen Grimshaw after her son Todd comes out as gay while dating Sarah; throwing David out after he hides drugs in Bethany's toys; being pushed down the stairs by David after he discovers that she took Tina McIntyre to a private abortion clinic to terminate a pregnancy fathered by David; marrying Tina's father Joe McIntyre ; being imprisoned for Joe's murder when his plan to fake his own death goes wrong; a relationship with Audrey's ex-partner Lewis Archer only for him to con her out of all her money; a feud with David's wife Kylie Turner ; coping with the secret that Kylie slept with Nick and that her unborn baby may not be David's; marrying the burglar who robbed her home, Michael Rodwell ; keeping the secret that Andy Carver is not actually Michael's son but an impostor; trying to help David come to terms with Kylie's death; locking David in the cellar of the Bistro after discovering that he is going to kill Kylie's murderer, Clayton Hibbs ; dealing with Bethany's involvement in a sex ring; discovering that David has fallen in love with Shona Ramsey, the mother of Clayton.
Casting
Actress Helen Worth was cast as Gail Potter in 1974. The role of Gail was initially intended to be very minor, a friend of the more established character Tricia Hopkins, who was introduced as part of a new family. The Hopkins family made little impact on the show, and, after they were written out, Gail went on to become one of the most popular and high-profile characters in the history of the series. Although Worth was 23 at the time of her casting, the character of Gail was supposed to be 16 when she first appeared.Development
Feud with Eileen Grimshaw
The character's feud with neighbour Eileen Grimshaw arose when Eileen's son, Todd Grimshaw gave up his university course to remain with Gail's daughter Sarah-Louise Platt ; Sarah later married Eileen's older son, Jason, but the marriage soon broke up. Various things, including the 2010 tram crash, have caused them to put aside their differences.Cleaver has commented, "Eileen's relationship with Gail is horrendous I love all the scraps in the street with Gail. Helen Worth and I love doing all that – we have such a laugh with the abusive comments we make for each other. The constant battle is fun. It's a love-hate relationship." Worth has suggested that Gail probably thinks she is "a little better than Eileen". Jenny Platt, who played Violet Wilson, has noted that "Gail's found her nemesis in Eileen, but it's so stupid because actually they are so similar. They are both single mums looking out for their kids." In June 2015, they fought in the street after Gail discovered Eileen had kissed her estranged husband Michael.
Relationship with Joe McIntyre
In 2008, Gail began a relationship with Joe McIntyre portrayed by Reece Dinsdale. The relationship was rocky just like most of Gail's other relationships but the two characters later went on to marry. Conclusion to the storyline and ending of the relationship resulting in Joe's death. In November 2009, The Sun reported Joe would decide to disappear on a boating holiday in the Lake District after experiencing a debt crisis which begins to spiral out of control. In a surprise twist, Joe ends up losing his life for real when a sail pole knocks him unconscious and into freezing cold water before he can carry out his plan in full. The plot somewhat mirrored the real-life case of fraudster John Darwin, who faked his own death while canoeing before turning up alive five years later in December 2007. A source said: "It's a copycat storyline of Darwin's insurance scam. Corrie bosses have decided that Joe will meet a watery end. He decides to fake his own death to avoid his crippling debt problems and leave wife Gail with the proceeds from his life insurance."Speaking of how Joe compared to Gail's other husband, Helen Worth said: "On paper, Joe looks quite normal! He's like any other normal man with problems and they're getting on top of him. Gail will share those problems. Like she says, when Gail marries him, Joe's problems become her problems and that's the way it should be. That sums their relationship up, really. She'll do anything for him because Gail can't let her dream go. To realise that he's the wrong man would spell the end of her dream, so she's not going to do it."
In 2009, Worth revealed in an interview with the Daily Mirror that she thought Coronation Street bosses were going to write the character out of the soap as an upcoming storyline would see her on trial for murder: "At the time I was genuinely anxious as to whether it was the end of the road for me and Coronation Street... I wasn't shocked, because it can happen to an actor at any time. But I was very pleased when I found out that whatever happens at Gail's trial, I will be staying in the show."
Relationship with Michael Rodwell
Les Dennis joined the show in 2014, as Michael Rodwell, who was being lined up as a love interest for Gail. Michael arrived in Weatherfield and burgled Gail's house, but returned later in the year to try to make amends with Gail as part of a restorative justice storyline. Gail would sacrifice everything for her relationship with Michael, in particular her relationship with son Nick Tilsley who disapproved of the relationship. After just over two years, Rodwell was written out of the series, dying of a heart attack.Departure and guest return
On 5 June 2024, it was announced that Worth had decided to leave after 50 years. Worth said in a statement: "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 described Worth and Gail as "legends". It was revealed that Worth would begin filming her departure storyline in July with her departure scenes airing towards the end of the year. Co-star Sally Dynevor who plays Sally Webster was a guest on an episode of Loose Women when the announcement news broke expressed her surprise at Worth's departure.On 29 June 2024, it was announced that Sean Wilson would reprise his role of Gail's ex-husband, Martin Platt for a short stint to coincide with her exit. It was later announced on 16 August 2024 that Wilson had quit for personal reasons after beginning filming his return, and that scripts were being rewritten to remove Martin's appearance. On 19 August 2024, it was announced that John Thomson would be reprising his role as Jesse Chadwick as part of Gail's exit storyline after Sean Wilson announced he had quit his role of Martin Platt, who was initially meant to return for Gail's departure. An ITV spokesperson reported to Digital Spy: "Sean Wilson has stepped down from filming for personal reasons". As a result, storylines had to be changed drastically. Many speculations have been made regarding how Chadwick will fit in with Gail leaving The Cobbles, but executive producer, Iain MacLeod has confirmed that Gail won't be killed off: "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 the viewers want to see?'. Gail has had a hard life. She had a difficult childhood and she disastrous marriages. So, we though what viewers really want is a happy ending for her, so that's what we're doing."
On 25 November 2024, new Coronation Street producer Kate Brooks revealed the exit story for Gail to Digital Spy: "In a word, Christmas is very fun this year. It's a very lively Christmas on the Street and lots of bombshells are dropped. Obviously, this is set against Gail's wedding. Whether she goes through with that or not, I cannot say anything! But this is a story with the Platts at the heart of it. It's really festive. Basically it's a story about family and how secrets impact and implode on a family. There are a lot of betrayals. Lots of secrets are exposed during this episode and it will be like classic Corrie, with a bit of a twist. I think we're all in need of a bit of escapism at the minute and we've had quite a dark but brilliant few months on the cobbles. The Christmas period for us is all about trying to tap into the family dynamics of the Platts, what makes people tick, and ultimately trying to make sure that we give glorious Gail the exit that she deserves." In December 2024 it was announced that Capron would return as Richard's "ghost" in order to tie into Gail's upcoming exit.
On 2 January 2025, Coronation Street series producer Iain MacLeod announced that he had a conversation with Worth, where she said "There might be times in my future when I'll come back". Adding that Worth will reprise her role as Gail Platt, If there is a big storyline going on with the Platt family.
In November 2025, it was revealed that Gail will make a brief return for Christmas Day 2025.