Sean Wilson reveals co-star Helen Worth supported him after Corrie axe

Sean Wilson has revealed how he was supported by his Coronation Street co-stars after he was axed from the soap earlier this year over an unfounded sex claim.

The actor, 59, played Martin Platt on the cobbles from 1985 to 2005 and was set to return to be part of Helen Worth's dramatic exit storyline as his former onscreen wife Gail.

The pair had already filmed scenes together, when Sean was told he was being axed from the ITV show pending a police inquiry into an allegation of indecent assault from 1997, without being told any of the details.

He was cleared by police 10 days ago with authorities reportedly saying no further action would be taken over the claim - made by a woman with links to the soap.

However, he lamented that his reputation was 'ruined in just eight minutes' and described his career as being 'in tatters'.

Describing the period before being cleared as 'hell', Sean revealed that co-stars Helen and Sally Dynevor - who plays another of his character's love interests, Sally Metcalfe - showed him a great deal of support.

Speaking to The Sun, he explained: '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 apologised to her too. She said, "Don’t even apologise 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.'

Sean added that he had decided to come back to Corrie 'to be there for Helen' as he wanted to make sure her departure from the soap after 50 years, was 'a real lovely exit'.

He said: 'I just wanted to be there for Helen. And I guess she would have felt a great comfort knowing that it was me coming back, because she knows I can do the job very well. So it would have been a real lovely exit for her. And so I only did it for that reason, really.'

It was announced in July that Sean was returning to Coronation Street after 19 years for a Christmas storyline involving the highly-anticipated departure of Gail.

But ITV later confirmed his shock exit from the show, with his storyline replaced with one featuring another former partner of Gail's, Jesse Chadwick (John Thomson), and claiming that Sean departed for 'personal reasons'.

Sean had agreed to a four-month 10 episode contract, but after just two weeks of filming, he got an email from bosses on August 1 requesting a meeting with him at Coronation Street studios.

The email partly read: '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 realise this will come out of the blue for you as it has for us.' 

Sean went to the studios for the meeting and quickly called his partner of five years Carol Hammond and agent Katherine Stonehouse who joined via Zoom.

The actor said three executives told him they had received an allegation that Sean put his hand up a woman's skirt and that the police had also contacted them and said they had referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Sean was not told the name of the person who made the allegation, only that it happened in 1997 and the person worked in connection with the show. 

He hired two lawyers to track down the police officer dealing with the complaint to find out of he was under investigation and also hired a media lawyer to help deal with the speculation around his departure from the show.

Sean said he attended a voluntary meeting with a detective constable on October 25 and was surprised to be told the allegation was that he had touched someone's backside while they were wearing jeans; different to what ITV had told him. 

He said the police told him they never contacted ITV and it couldn't have been passed to the CPS because an officer hadn't even been assigned to the case at that point.

They also told him the name of the person he was accused of assaulting but he didn't recognise them, saying 'hundreds' of people have worked on Coronation Street.

Sean was relieved when, on November 21, police told him no further action would be taken and said he cried on the call. 

The actor detailed the fall out from the allegation, saying he struggled to tell his children Callum, 26, and Maisie, 24, and hiring lawyers also came at a great financial cost.

Sean fears the allegation could damage his career, saying he'd hoped his Coronation Street return would lead to a wider showbiz comeback with potential panto appearances or maybe even an appearance on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

He now feels he is 'persona non grata' and is angry about the complaint, as he also said ITV got their facts about it wrong.

MailOnline contacted ITV representatives for comment.

Sean was a stalwart of Coronation Street from 1983 to 2005, and returned for a brief cameo in 2018, but has otherwise kept a low profile.

After leaving the cobbles, he embarked on a cheesemaking career - launching a cheese business called Artisan Farm in 2009 before going on to write a number of recipe books. 

He was in a relationship with fellow actress Susie Fenwick from 2016, but he couple split some time ago despite still being linked together in recent reports.

In July, it was confirmed that Sean would be reprising his role as Martin, as part of Gail's exit after 50 years on the cobbles.

As Sean picked up his first scripts to start shooting, he said: 'It was great to be invited back to Coronation Street again, 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 ebbs and flows of the unfolding storyline.

'Playing Martin has been a joy since day one and in a way, I'll be slipping back to where I left off, which no doubt will throw a spanner into the heart of the Platt family.

'It's just like slipping on an old and comfortable jumper from the back of the wardrobe… I'm looking forward to reuniting with my TV family.'