Gail Platt is firmly established as one of Coronation Street's most famous figures.
The veteran character has been played by Helen Worth on the long-running soap since 1974.
The soap icon has played a key part in some of Corrie's most turbulent storylines during her 38 years in Weatherfield.
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The 71-year-old's stint in no.8 started by exploring her rocky relationship with mum Audrey Roberts, who always prioritised her own social life.
Coronation Street viewers have since watched Gail's journey into adulthood and her roller-coaster love life as she has been married six times.
Gail is perhaps most famous for her marriage to the evil Richard Hillman, who is regarded as one of the greatest villains in soap history.
The character, played by Brian Capron, confessed to two murders before trying to drown Gail and her children in his dramatic exit in 2003.
Richard was the only character to die in the incident and Gail has since been married and widowed two more times.
Gail is still a key character in Coronation Street to this date and acts as a matriarch figure to her two children and five grandkids.
Away from the screen, Helen has experienced tragedy as her mum was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
According to the Daily Star, she spoke about how she was devastated her mum never got to see her in the iconic role as Gail.
She said: "She would have been so thrilled. More excited than me. She'd been there all the way - at the dance classes, holding my hand before the competitions, putting on her best suit to take me to London for auditions.
"But when I finally made it, she wasn't there to share it with me. I'd never missed her more."
Helen has also experienced a rocky love life as she married actor Michael Angelis in 1991, who is most famous for being the narrator of Thomas the Tank Engine.
Michael was raised in Dingle and also appeared in shows such as The Liver Birds, The Bill and Midsomer Murders.
The two had been dating since the mid 1970s and were married for 10 years, but it ended in divorce after Michael confessed to having two affairs.
Helen told The Mirror in 2001 how she was heartbroken after he admitted the second affair with Welsh model Jennifer Khalastchi.
She said: "Nothing can ever prepare you for the day your husband sits you down and tells you he is having an affair.
"My marriage was everything to me. It was the foundation on which everything else was built. I had been with Michael for nearly half of my life. I never imagined that we wouldn't grow old together.
"When he told me, everything just went black. Things started to make sense. Maybe I realised right away that something like that had been bound to happen. Things hadn't been right for some time, but - naively maybe - I didn't think it was serious.
"I knew there was a problem. I just didn't know it was me."
Helen has since moved on and married second husband Trevor Dawson in 2013.
She told Nigel Havers on This Morning how it was "love at first sight" when she met Trevor at a mutual friend's 90th birthday party.
She said: "I met Trevor about 10 years ago and I just thank my lucky stars really. He's just gorgeous."
Despite being on Weatherfield for nearly 40 years, Helen has spoken about how she still enjoys the show as much as ever and has no current plans to leave.
She told This Morning in 2020: "I hope I’m not going anywhere, I haven’t heard anything. "
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ITV and ITV Hub
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