Coronation Street's Tina O'Brien gives hope for Gail Platt exit as she'd be 'absolutely devastated'

Coronation Street star Tina O'Brien has spoken for the first time about Helen Worth's exit from the show and shared her hope for the final scenes or she'll be 'absolutely devastated'.

It was confirmed that Helen will stop playing the ITV soap's Gail Platt at the end of the year. The acting legend joined the show at 23 years old in 1974, which was 14 years after viewers were first introduced to the people of Weatherfield.

She will soon mark five decades of playing the Platt matriarch who over the years has endured a number of failed romances, prison time, near-death experiences, drama with her children and recently found out her brother was a serial killer.

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However, as Helen marks her major soap milestone, she will also be looking forward to a very different future, as she has made the difficult decision to step down from her much-loved role at the end of the year as it was confirmed that the 73-year-old will start filming her exit story next month and the emotional scenes will be on screen at the end of the year.

Tina, who has played the role of Sarah, Gail's daughter since 1999, was among those to react to the news earlier in June, saying in a comment on Corrie's social media post: "Can't put into words how much I love and adore Helen," alongside a single tear-crying emoji and a love heart.

She has since attended the Sedulo Colour Ball in Manchester on Thursday (June 17) and while there, she told Express.co.uk about her on-screen mum's impending departure: "I'm really sad [about Helen leaving] but I'm really happy for her. It's something that she is ready for and she wants so yeah actually, it's good."

Speaking about Gail's final scenes, when asked if Tina knows if she will be in them with her on-screen mum, she replied: "I'm really hoping so, I'll be absolutely devastated if I'm not!" She added: "It would be terrible."

The 40-year-old actress added: "I know that she's not leaving just yet. I'm not sure what the storyline is yet, as I haven't been told, but I'm sure that that's something they are working on at the minute."

Speaking about her own future on the ITV soap and whether Gail's exit will impact the role of Sarah Platt, Tina said: "I love my job so much but I think with anything in the entertainment industry, nobody ever knows. But I do know that I'm there definitely for a year. I love it and it sounds a cliche but Corrie is like my little second family."