If there’s one thing Coronation Street spoilers have taught us, it’s that – the cobbles always have some drama. Recently, one of the major stars of the show made his comeback to the show. But unfortunately, his role was axed due to a claim dating back to 27 years.
A Never-Meant-To-Be Return
We are talking about none other than Sean Wilson, who, as Martin Platt, was a major part of the Platt family. After his exit in 2005, he was about to make a major comeback in 2024’s Christmas plot for Gail’s exit. But it seems like destiny had other plans for him.
Sean Wilson started in July and signed a four months and ten-episode contract this year. But before the episodes aired, he was axed off in September. The actor was very excited to reprise his role and told The Sun his “whole world was blown apart”.
After filming for ten scenes in two weeks, on August 1, he was having a great time on the set. He said: “…Helen and I go back a long way, and I wanted to be the person that she left with – and I think the viewers did as well.”
How It All Went Down
The actor said that he had received an email from the bosses, which stunned him. The email read:
“I am writing to request a meeting with you at the Coronation Street studios. This is to discuss a historical allegation of a sexual nature which has been made about you in the past few days relating to when you were previously under contract to the programme. We will realize this will come out of the blue for you as it has for us.”
The actor talked about how three executives suddenly confronted him. The allegation was that he had put his hands up a woman’s skirt back his time in Emmerdale earlier. He added, “I told them I knew it hadn’t happened and deserved a chance to convince them. But they said once it had become a police matter, they couldn’t do anything.”
Additionally, he told the bosses, “I was a professional. I’d been there 21 years, and there had never been an allegation made against me. I wasn’t told the name of the person, but I was told it only happened sometime in 1997, and the person had worked in connection with the show. All I could think was that this was preposterous.”
ITV Showed Sean Back – It’s Disappointing!
Sean Wilson revealed, “We asked ITV to supply us with the details of the police officer who contacted them so we could initiate an informal voluntary interview. But they said they couldn’t give us that information and we’d have to wait for the police to call us. Two weeks went by, and nobody got in touch.”
When he received no additional help, the actor himself went ahead and hired two lawyers to track down the office who was in charge of this complaint. He also went ahead and hired a media lawyer to get a hold of the speculations that happened after he stepped out of the Dales.
While ITV released a statement that he had stepped away for personal reasons, he had no way to clear his name and save his reputation. Finally, on October 25, Sean attended a voluntary interview with a detective constable at Longsight police station.
What’s the Ultimate Truth?
In conversation with the police, the actor revealed:
“The detective said there were no witnesses and the person complaining hadn’t told anyone about it, and they couldn’t say when it happened in 1997. I was also shocked to hear the allegation was entirely different from what ITV had said. The police said it was a touch on the backside over the individual’s jeans, on one occasion, and not a hand up a woman’s skirt.
Police also said they had never contacted ITV and it couldn’t have been passed to the CPS as they hadn’t even assigned the case to an officer at that point. They also told me the name of the person who I didn’t recognize. Hundreds of people work for Coronation Street who you never meet and it was one of those. They don’t work there now.”
When on November 21, the police informed that there would be no further action on this, Sean said he felt “relieved beyond belief”. He then said how the past months took a toll on him and how he felt “submerged in water” and cried for months. Sean couldn’t even tell this news to his own children Callum, 26, and daughter Maisie, 24.
Talking about ITV, he said, “It’s been a great cost to me. Lawyers are expensive, and I needed to hire them to protect me. ITV did pay me the contractual amount of guaranteed minimum episodes I was due to film, but I lost money on the future residuals, like episode repeat fees.”
A Career In Tatters?
Sean added to the Manchester Evening News: “One of the first things I did when I found myself in a position of more coherence, I decided that I’d text Helen. We both said we couldn’t see this coming from a million miles away, so she said, ‘I’m very sorry, this is the situation, and forget everything. I apologized to her, too. She said, ‘Don’t even apologize to me; you’ve had a lot to go through.’ I’ve heard lots from Sally, too.
There have been lots of people – and fans, too.” What do you think will happen next? Will the makers ever accept their share of mistakes and call Sean back to Coronation Street? Or is this the end for him? Stay tuned to Soap Opera Daily to find out what happens next in the upcoming Coronation Street spoilers!
