Coronation Street legend Helen Worth has announced she'll be leaving the ITV soap after 50 years on the Cobbles.
Worth has played street stalwart Gail Platt for five decades and has released a statement explaining why now is the time to say farewell.
She told fans: "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.”
The news sent shockwaves through Corrie's fanbase, with hundreds reacting to the announcement on Instagram within minutes.
"Nooooooooo," one Instagram user commented followed by a series of crying emojis. "I mean she’s had a fantastic career in Corrie and she deserves to have that break, but I’ll really miss her."
A second pleaded: "Let Gail ride off into the sunset, just don't do....ye....just don't."
"No way! Definitely an end of an era," a third added before a fourth weighed in: "Oh no won’t be the same without her!! I hope she has a happy ending."
Helen Worth and Brian Capron's Gail and Richard storyline will go down in soap history
PA
And a fifth summed up: "This is a very sad day in the corrie fandom." (sic)
While fans have urged soap bosses not to kill Worth's character off, the details of her exit remain under wraps for now.
ITV has said Worth will begin filming her final scenes next month and fans won't find out until the end of the year how Gail will depart.
One thing the broadcaster has promised, however, is that Worth's farewell will be "emotional".
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Worth wasn't the only one to issue a statement about her imminent departure as Corrie executive producer, Iain Macleod, similarly shared kind words.
"The words ‘legend’ and ‘icon’ get used a lot these days but they genuinely do apply to Gail and to Helen Worth," he began before referring to Gail's "memorable" storylines "often deriving from her catastrophically bad luck in choosing husbands".
He went on to applaud Worth for her part in the soap's iconic Richard Hillman storyline and labelled worth as "one of the Corrie greats".
"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," Macleod signed off.
