Coronation Street reveals shock character return for Gail Rodwell’s epic exit storyline

Gail looking worried in Coronation Street

(Image credit: ITV)

Coronation Street has revealed that Gail Rodwell will get a surprise visitor this Christmas as she deliberates whether to go ahead with her wedding to partner Jesse Chadwick.

Gail is due to tie the knot with Jesse - who will be her sixth husband - on Christmas Day, and then start a new life with the former children’s entertainer in France. The plot has been devised to facilitate the exit of actress Helen Worth, who is retiring from Coronation Street after 50 years.

But the nuptials are thrown into jeopardy on Christmas Eve, courtesy of Audrey. Desperate for her daughter to stay put, the pensioner drops a bombshell during Gail and Jesse’s leaving party; telling Gail that her future husband has been up to no good behind her back.

Jesse has, indeed, done something rather shady - as a favour to future stepson David, he has laundered the cash that the hairdresser stole from gangster Harvey Gaskell.

As an upset Gail turns in for the night, plagued with doubts about her nuptials, she drifts in and out of sleep. Tossing and turning, she’s stunned when an unexpected visitor then appears, who helps her to reach a decision.

Though Corrie bosses have not confirmed this, the implication is that the visitor will be in the form of a ghostly apparition. Could it be Gail’s third husband, serial killer Richard Hillman, perhaps? Or maybe another of her late husbands - Brian Tilsley, Joe McIntyre or Michael Rodwell?

Show boss Kate Brooks has previously revealed that the Platts will be at the heart of the soap this festive season, and Gail’s exit will be steeped in nostalgia.

“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,” says Brooks.

“She’s been an icon on the street for such a long time - 50 years of television, which is amazing - and we can’t tell a story on Christmas Day about her exit without it feeling and being steeped in nostalgia.

“Hopefully, people will be crying, they’ll be laughing, and there’ll be gasps as people go, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s just happened!’

“It’s old school Corrie but with a real modern twist, and I think people will really, really enjoy it.”

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV1.

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Alison Slade has over 20 years of experience as a TV journalist and has spent the vast majority of that time as Soap Editor of TV Times magazine. She is passionate about the ability of soaps to change the world by presenting important, issue-based stories about real people in a relatable way. There are few soap actors that she hasn’t interviewed over the years, and her expertise in the genre means she has been called upon as a judge numerous times for The British Soap Awards and the BAFTA TV Awards.

When she is not writing about soaps, watching soaps, or interviewing people who are in soaps, she loves going to the theatre, taking a long walk or pottering about at home, obsessing over Farrow and Ball paint.