Coronation Street’s Gail Platt has yet another surprise in store for her, when her long lost dad turns up and reveals that he is gay.

Michael Byrne is to play Gail’s dad Ted Paige who abandoned Audrey when she fell pregnant with Gail at the age of 18.

A show source told The Sun: “Audrey wanted to settle down with someone so she could claim back son Stephen who she had when she was 16.

“But the man she fancied wasn’t interested so Audrey went for his best friend, Ted.

“When she discovered she was pregnant by Ted, she fled as she knew he would propose – and she couldn’t spend the rest of her life with him.”

Ted is set to return unexpectedly this summer, and tells Gail that the reason he ran away was due to the fact that he was gay.