Coronation Street fans rage ‘this is ridiculous!’ as they sink claws into John Thomson’s return – and claim ‘woeful and bizarre’ comeback will ruin Gail’s final scenes
Coronation Street bosses have reportedly replaced axed Sean Wilson with former star John Thomson in a ‘frantic rewrite’.
The actor, 59, was set to reprise his role as Martin Platt in October as part of his ex-wife Gail’s happy exit storyline as actress Helen Worth, 73, prepares to retire, but now John Thomson’s, 55, character Jesse Chadwick will be the one doing the wooing.
However, since hearing the news, fans took to Digital Spy’s forums to share their disappointment, claiming the ‘bizarre’ comeback would ruin Gail’s final scenes.
One person shared: ‘Sorry but this is a ridiculous idea. This character had nothing to do with Gail so I’m baffled he is going to be the one to sweep her off her feet. I know Sean’s sudden exit has left a few holes and problems for the writers but surely they can do better than this. How about bringing back Suzie Birchall or Gail’s former lover Ian Latimer? A return of one of those would be far better.’
‘Just woeful, and completely irrelevant to a character’s presence on the show spanning fifty years. TPTB must be secretly really annoyed with Helen’s decision and Sean’s sudden departure because they are showing zero respect towards either character or actor.’
‘What a bizarre choice. All the characters they could have chosen and they chose one I don’t recall her ever interacting with. They might as well have had her hooking up with Les Battersby!’
‘They really are turning her exit into a joke now. They would have been better having Tricia or Suzie return for her exit. Either that or just have her reunite with Martin offscreen.’
While another raged: ‘This all pretty much sums up the production team. They are completely clueless and don’t really care about Gail’s history on the show. So Eileen’s ex will now return to the cobbles and fall for Gail. What a joke.’
John appeared on the cobbles as the hapless children’s entertainer between 2008 and 2010, during which time he dated Gail’s rival Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) suggesting the new storyline could see a rematch between the two women.
A source told The Sun: ‘It’s been an absolutely frantic, incredibly stressful past couple of weeks for Corrie bosses and scriptwriters.’
‘So many new departure storylines for Gail were mooted but they were set on a love interest one – which proved tricky as she buried five of her six ex-husbands. And the remaining living one, Martin, was obviously axed in real life.’
‘They wanted a recognisable name and plumped for John as his character was popular with viewers and a real blast from the past.’
MailOnline has contacted John’s reps and ITV for comment.
It comes after John said he would never return to the cobbles saying: ‘I don’t want to be known as Jesse Chadwick, children’s entertainer, for the rest of my life’
Telling Metro in 2012: ‘I’ve been fortunate. I’ve had a varied career and like popping in and out of things. I was in it for ten months and felt I’d run my course.’
Sean was reportedly axed from the show two weeks before the news broke with lawyers becoming involved, as the mystery on the cobbles deepens.
But reports suggested he suddenly departed the show after being ‘summoned to head office’ before quitting for ‘personal reasons’ forcing Gail’s entire exit storyline to be frantically rewritten.
Sean had returned to Corrie in July to film his first scenes, and had already recorded episodes with a large number of stars in the soap.
After The Sun first reported the news, a source revealed he secretly left weeks ago, leaving cast and crew shocked and bosses barred from discussing the matter.
An ITV spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Sean Wilson has stepped down from filming for personal reasons.’
Sean’s agent told the publication: ‘Neither he nor I will be making any further comment or statement.’
