Long-time viewers were thrilled when Gail Platt officially returned to Coronation Street in the Christmas episode, but no one expected her return to be so dark.

Gail – after a long absence – enters the house to Christmas music but quickly finds herself in a chaotic situation: Lisa is sobbing, Carla is missing, and everyone is suspicious of each other.

But what shocked fans even more were Gail’s strange behavior.

She appeared tired, mentally unstable, and carried an old letter with a postmark from 1998.

According to leaked information from ITV, this letter may reveal a hidden child who was mistakenly identified at the hospital – a detail considered to be “the biggest plot twist in Corrie since Richard Hillman’s time.”

Gail also faces a serious health issue, as in one scene she suddenly collapses after a heart attack. The Platt family faces another chaotic holiday season when David and Sarah are unable to get to the hospital in time. Some fans believe the producers are preparing an “exit arc” for Gail – an icon of over 40 years of Coronation Street – to make way for a new generation. But if this is a farewell, it will certainly be one of the most poignant and haunting endings in British soap history.