Helen Worth begins last week on Coronation Street as she films final scenes after 50 years

Soap legend today begins her final week on the Cobbles as she prepares to say goodbye to after 50 years.

The TV great films her final scenes as this week ahead of her dramatic exit in the months ahead. The 73-year-old announced in a bombshell statement earlier this year that she’d be quitting the show after five decades playing the tortured resident.

Details of what the storyline will be that leads to Gail leaving Weatherfield have not been confirmed, but bosses have teased that it will be "emotional" and will no doubt be a fitting departure for a Corrie icon. But fans fear the worst after last week watching veteran Gail suffer a heart-attack.

As part of the storyline, the show partnered with the British Heart Foundation to raise awareness about heart disease. The credits were interrupted by a message to highlight the charity's research, giving fans a powerful message as its classic theme tune was changed to the sound of a flatlining heartbeat following Gail's cardiac arrest.

Speaking of her decision to bow out back in June, long-serving 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."

Unlucky-in-love Gail has been married to several Weatherfield men over the year including Brian Tilsley, Martin Platt, Richard Hillman, Joe McIntyre and Michael Rodwell. Fans are devastated by her impending exit, and are calling for a national bank holiday amid the news of her departure.

Soap boss Iain MacLeod paid a special tribute: "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. 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 a thoroughly 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."

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