She said "ta-ra" to her character Rosie Webster and "see ya" to the on-screen family she has known since she was nine.
Helen has also turned her back on Manchester for a new life in Wales with her boyfriend, Swansea City winger Scott Sinclair, 23 this month.
But there is one thing she won't be waving cheerio to — and that's her revealing outfits.
Helen, 21, came in for stick recently when she exposed more cleavage than intended in a Jean Paul Gaultier dress.
It prompted a surge of comments, from people labelling the dress as "awful" and "hideous" to those telling Helen to "put your nellies away".
The attention prompted the actress to tweet that she was "really embarrassed about my boobs" and later vowed: "Polo necks for me from now on."
But her millions of male fans will be relieved to hear it was just a bit of fun on Helen's part.
And as you can see from this sexy photoshoot exclusively for the Sunday edition of The Sun, she has no intention of permanently covering up.


"That tweet about wearing polo necks was a joke," says Helen. "I am really happy right now and I will wear exactly what I want. I just do my own thing. I'm not looking to please anyone except myself.
"My boyfriend Scott was with me when I bought that dress and thought I looked beautiful. That's the most important thing to me. Did the comments knock my confidence? No way!"
Part of the problem, Helen says, is that people still confuse her with the bitchy, ruthless character she played for 12 years.
"I think people get mixed up with me and Rosie. They think I'm as tough or as bitchy as her. I am very strong, but I have a soft side and a big heart as well. I'm not this massive party animal that people think I am either.
"I enjoy going out with my friends in London and because we go to certain places there are always photographers outside.
"But at home in Swansea, I tend to stay in with Scott and we keep ourselves to ourselves."
Since leaving the ITV1 soap Helen has been on a major health kick, dropping 6lb and using bikram yoga to tone up.
At an enviably trim size 8, with natural 32E boobs, it's no wonder she enjoys flaunting her assets.
But although Helen defends her right to wear whatever she chooses with the defiant tone she often used as Rosie Webster, she admits she has had to grow a thick skin over the years.
She says: "Sometimes I think maybe I do bring the attention on myself because I do like to wear low-cut dresses.
"But that's what girls do. Have you seen what some girls my age wear when they go out on the town?
"I don't think I'm much different, I'm just experimenting with fashion and what suits me.


"Sometimes I'm not aware of how I look until I see pictures in the papers, then I realise there was a lot on show.
"But so what? That's my figure and that's how Gaultier designed the dress to be. What I find weird is why it bothers some people.
"I've had to face criticism about the way I look since I was about 16 and it did sometimes upset me when I was younger but it doesn't bother me now.
"I had one really awful message on Twitter from a woman who said some horrible things along the lines of, 'What were you thinking when you went out like that?'
"I thought, 'What were you thinking when you wrote that message?' I never reply to those sorts of tweets.
"I feel sorry for people like that. Haven't they got anything better to do with their time?"
It is understandable that Helen enjoys making the most of her impressive cleavage, especially as she feared she would always be flat-chested as a teenager.
She says: "When I was 16 I was an AA chest, absolutely nothing. Then I woke up one morning when I was doing my A-levels and I had boobs.
"I think you should celebrate your figure whatever you've got, a good bust, great legs or a shapely bum."
Helen's final scene in Weatherfield was filmed in December and aired a couple of weeks ago, with her character leaving and heading to London to make her fortune on a reality show.
Although she has had offers, Helen has never been tempted to do a topless photoshoot for fear of offending her dad Paul, an electrical contractor, and of course boyfriend Scott.
She explains: "I'm a bit of a daddy's girl plus I've got a boyfriend and I want to save that kind of thing for him.
"It's not that I would never do it, and those sorts of pictures can look absolutely beautiful, but I'm an actress and I want to be taken seriously." She and Scott have been together two years and Helen has a tattoo of Scott's name on her thigh.
She says: "I love living in Wales. I feel like I can do my own thing, nobody bothers me. My boyfriend is the one who gets the attention.
"It's so nice to be with Scott now because I couldn't see him a lot when I was on Corrie. Sometimes we wouldn't see each other for a month at a time because of our schedules.
"I'm trying to be a domestic goddess. I love going through recipe books and cooking but I'm quite untidy.
"I put it down to me being creative. I'm so grateful for my time on Corrie but there were times when I was growing up that I craved a normal life so I could do what my friends were doing.
"Now I can enjoy spending time with my family, my boyfriend and friends, and grow as a person.
"It still feels like I'm just on a break from work at the moment. I don't have any regrets about leaving, I feel like this is where I'm meant to be now." Helen had suffered from anxiety for a couple of years, which magnified into panic attacks shortly before she left the soap.
She says the attacks were down to stress in her personal life.
She says: "It made me a stronger person and I'm in a really good place now."
Helen is remaining tight-lipped about her future acting jobs.
"There is something coming up which will be a big departure from Rosie," she teases.
She admits she hasn't tuned into see what's going on in the Street since leaving because she's been having too much fun to watch telly.
She says: "I watched my last episode with Scott because I was excited to see how the episodes came across on screen, but I haven't watched a lot of the show since because I don't watch that much TV and I've not had a lot of down time.
"I do want to watch it though — it would be nice to see my Corrie friends and catch up on the storylines."
And just to make sure she's fully prepared for anything her future roles might throw at her, Helen has taken up acting lessons.
It might seem an odd move for someone who has already spent half her life in front of the camera, but Helen is determined to carve out a lasting career.
She says: "Scott asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said I would like some private tuition. You can never stop learning."

Helen's top plots

1999: Held hostage by Greg Kelly along with her sister Sophie and mum Sally.
2004: Sally slaps Rosie when she refuses to attend a fee-paying stage school.


2005: Becomes a goth and loses her virginity to fellow goth Craig Harris.
2006: Starts taking the Pill but when her mum finds out, she goes mad and drives Rosie out to the moors where they suffer a near-fatal car crash. Rosie is later left heartbroken when Craig moves to Berlin.


2007: Starts working as PA at Underworld. Steamy affair with teacher John Stape and moves to Weatherfield High to do A-levels.
2008: Abducted and held captive by John in an attic. Sells her story to the local paper and poses for racy photos. Tina later mocks Rosie's kidnap sparking a fight. Dad Kevin steps in.


2009: Buys shares in Underworld lingerie, but her boss and boyfriend Luke Strong runs off with her fortune.
2010: Becomes a topless model and moves in with boyfriend Jason Grimshaw.
2012: Dumps Jason and heads to London to appear in a reality show.