Former Coronation Street star Brian Capron has said Helen Worth leaving the ITV soap on her own terms after 50 years is a “graceful way to go”.
Worth, 73, announced on Wednesday that she will be bidding farewell to her role as Gail Platt at the end of the year after joining the cast in 1974.
Over the years, she has had many explosive storylines and a string of failed marriages, including to Capron’s character Richard Hillman who turned out to be her most tumultuous when it was revealed he was a con artist and serial killer.
Reflecting on Worth’s decision to exit the show, Capron told ITV’s This Morning: “It’s a graceful way to go.
“It’s funny, she used to say to me she almost felt institutionalised because that’s your life for so long…
“It’s wonderful to have a secure job… because they’re such a big family up there, it’s a wonderful job to have, but maybe you just want to do something in your semi-retirement.”
Worth is set to leave the show following a “major storyline for the Platt family”, which she is due to start filming next month.
The actress said she felt it was the “perfect time to leave” after celebrating 50 years in the role in July.
This Morning host Ben Shephard questioned if Worth will sign up for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! now her schedule has freed up, but Capron said he does not think that is her plan.
He also reflected on first meeting Worth when she was aged 19 at an ITV wrap party before he played her on-screen husband.
“Because we knew each other, I think that really helped”, he said.
“And I think everybody thought I might be a dodgy character so we worked very hard on making that a genuinely warm, loving relationship and so in his mad head he was doing everything for his family, which he so desperately wanted, which gave a great springboard for the dark side.”
Their storyline saw Richard cause mayhem in their lives with his various money-making schemes but things came to a breaking point when he attempted to kill her and her children by tying them up in the family car and driving them into a canal.
The Platts were rescued from the water but Richard drowned, bringing his homicidal days to an end in 2003.
Capron said he believes Coronation Street introduced the storyline to help the show compete against BBC’s EastEnders which had been doing “so well” at the time.
He said: “So they suddenly went back to long-term storylines, like an old fashioned Corrie.
“The thing about the Hillman storyline, there was a bit of dark comedy around it as well which was rather nice.
“It was a wonderful part to play. And it suddenly developed, they honed in on our relationship and it worked.”
Actor Todd Boyce, who played Gail’s half-brother Stephen Reid, said he also had “so much admiration” for Worth choosing to walk away at this stage.
“At first, I was sad and I was shocked, and I thought ‘I just have admiration for leaving gracefully in life’,” he added.
“I’d still be there if they hadn’t killed me off.”
He also confirmed that once you are a member of the Platt family, you are connected for life, saying: “She feels like my half sister, Audrey feels like my mother. It’s that dynamic.”