Coronation Street bosses have reportedly replaced the sacked Sean Wilson with former star John Thomson in a “frantic rewrite”.
The 59-year-old actor It was set to will reprise his role as Martin Platt in October as part of the story of his happy exit from his ex-wife Gail as actress Helen Worth, 73, prepares to retire, but now John’s character, Jesse Chadwick, will be the one courting him.
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 said The sun: ‘It’s been an absolutely hectic and incredibly stressful last few weeks for Corrie bosses and writers.
‘There were a lot of new goodbye stories for Gail, but they all centred around a love story, which was complicated by the fact that she buried five of her six ex-husbands. And the one left alive, Martin, was obviously sent off in real life.
Coronation Street bosses have reportedly replaced the sacked Sean Wilson (pictured) with former star John Thomson in a ‘frantic rewrite’
The actor was due to reprise his role as Martin Platt in October as part of the storyline for his ex-wife Gail’s happy exit as actress Helen Worth, 73, prepares to retire, but now John’s character Jesse Chadwick (pictured) will be the one he woos.
John appeared on the cobbles as the ill-fated children’s entertainer between 2008 and 2010 (Sean pictured on the show with co-star Helen Worth)
‘They wanted a recognisable name and went with John because his character was popular with viewers and was a real throwback.’
MailOnline has contacted John’s representatives and ITV for comment.
This 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.’
Narration Metro In 2012: “I’ve been lucky. I’ve had a varied career and I like to get in and out of everything. I was in it for ten months and I felt like I’d accomplished my goal.”
This comes after Sean was reportedly fired from the show two weeks before the news broke with lawyers involved, as the mystery surrounding the cobblestones deepens.
But reports suggest he suddenly left the show after being “summoned to head office” before quitting for “personal reasons”, forcing a frantic rewrite of Gail’s entire exit storyline.
Sean had returned to Corrie in July to film his first scenes, and had already recorded episodes with a host of the soap’s stars.
After TheUnited Nations The news was first reported on Friday and has now been revealed by a source who secretly left weeks ago, leaving cast and crew shocked and bosses unable to discuss the matter.
Jesse dated Gail’s rival Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver, pictured), suggesting the new storyline could see a rematch between the two women.
This 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.’
Earlier this year, Sean said soap storylines were now “issue-focused” and tried and failed to solve world problems, compared to his own time on the show between 1985 and 2005, when audiences would watch it in droves and be left “laughing and crying”.
Narration The daily star‘I think the soap world is a different vehicle today. I think I was part of the British soap industry at its peak, the glory years, when there were 18 to 21 million people watching.’
“On a Wednesday or a Friday you could walk down the street and hear people laughing with their windows open because the great writing and great acting really spoke to the nation. I don’t think that happens as much today.”
He continued: “People don’t have to watch it anymore. They were all chained together; you were five minutes away from laughing and five minutes away from crying. Nowadays it seems like it’s all about the problems, trying to solve the world’s problems, which they’re not going to do.”
As reported by The SunSean was summoned to a meeting with bosses and left without “giving any explanation” to his co-stars.
An ITV spokesperson told MailOnline: “Sean Wilson has left filming for personal reasons.”
Sean’s agent told the publication: “Neither he nor I will be making any further comment or statement.”
Sean played Martin for 20 years before he and his family emigrated to New Zealand in 2018 and made one final visit to Weatherfield before his departure to make amends with David, who was upset about his father leaving the country.
After the news was first reported on Friday, a source has now revealed that she secretly left weeks ago, leaving cast and crew shocked and bosses unable to discuss the matter (pictured with co-star Helen Worth and Tina O’Brien)
According to The Sun, Sean was summoned to a meeting with bosses and left without “giving any explanation” to his co-stars.
Although the couple’s ten-year union ended when Sean’s character Martin had an affair, it is considered the most successful of Gail’s five previous marriages.
In July, it was confirmed that Sean would reprise his role as Martin, as part of Gail’s exit after 50 years on the cobbles.
As Sean collected his first scripts to begin filming, he said: “It was fantastic to be invited back to Coronation Street to contribute to Helen’s exit story.”
He added: ‘We’ll have a few months to catch up with Martin and Gail again, following the ups and downs of the developing story.
‘Playing Martin has been a joy from day one and in some ways I’ll be picking up where I left off, which will no doubt be a huge blow to the Platt family.
“It’s like putting on an old, comfortable sweater from the back of the closet… I can’t wait to be reunited with my TV family.”
However, this week a rep for the soap said the actor left “for personal reasons” and none of Sean’s scenes will be aired, with Gail’s entire exit storyline now being frantically rewritten by bosses.