FOND FAREWELL

They've played mother and son for nearly 25 years, but it's time for Jack P Shepherd to say goodbye to the actress he calls Mum on Coronation Street

After an incredible 50 years playing Gail Platt, actress Helen Worth is leaving Coronation Street. Naturally, actor Jack P Shepherd, who started playing Gail’s son David in April 2000 when he was just 12 years old, wanted to make sure that Helen – and her character – got a fitting send-off.

“Her last scene filming was with me and Julia [Goulding, who plays David’s wife Shona] at the Platts’,” Jack, 36, explains. “And I said, ‘No, the last scene she films has to be with all the Platts.’”

To his surprise, Jack was told there wasn’t a scene written where the family were all together. “I said, ‘Well, f******g write one!’” Jack says, laughing as he recalls his conversation with the producers. “I told them, ‘Just make sure we’re all together at the Platts’ when she finally goes.’ And they did!

“Luckily, they were able to schedule it so we were all together, and every unit broke,” Jack reveals. “It was very emotional for the whole building. There were 500 people in the studio who came to say goodbye. I’d never seen that before.”

Jack reveals humble Helen, 73, didn’t want a fuss, but he told her, “It’s not so much for you, it’s for the building. It’s for everyone.”

After an emotional goodbye in front of the cameras, the cast had a party in Nick’s Bistro, where Helen’s on-screen children – played by Jack, Ben Price and Tina O’Brien – delivered a speech that had the whole room in tears.

“It made us all cry. It was lovely,” says Jack.