Coronation Street‘s Sue Cleaver has opened up on co-star Helen Worth leaving the cobbles after 50 years.

The Eileen Grimshaw star appeared on Loose Women last week and celebrated Worth, who’s bowing out this Christmas after five decades in

the role of Gail.

“Helen leaving, I can tell you it’s really awful, it’s really sad. We are all devastated,” Cleaver said on the show. “I mean she has deserved it, I mean 50 years is extraordinary isn’t it.”

Cleaver described her co-star as “the most generous, empathetic, humble human being you will ever meet, and everybody loves her.”

“If you speak to Jack Shepherd and Tina O’Brien who play her kids in the show, they will say she has been a mentor,” Cleaver added about Worth’s legacy. “She has taught them everything they know, from how you behave on the set, etiquette.”

“She is just the most generous soul and we are going to miss her so much. There is going to be a massive Helen hole,” Cleaver added.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Worth would be leaving Corrie, with her wedding and exit storyline tying in with a big moment for the Platts.

Corrie‘s new producer Kate Brooks teased an exciting Christmas on the cobbles, saying: “In a word, Christmas is very fun this year. It’s a very lively Christmas on the Street and lots of bombshells are dropped.

“Obviously, this is set against Gail’s wedding,” Brooks continued. “Whether she goes through with that or not, I cannot say anything! But this is a story with the Platts at the heart of it.”