Gail Rodwell

Gail Rodwell (née Potter, previously Tilsley, Platt, Hillman and McIntyre) is a long-standing Coronation Street resident, daughter of Audrey Roberts, and mother of Nick Tilsley, Sarah and David Platt. She is also the grandmother of Bethany, Lily and Harry Platt as well as the step-grandmother of Max Turner.

Gail was raised by Audrey alone and didn't meet her father, Ted Page, until later in her life. Audrey was flighty and sociable and often left Gail on her own, which built up a difficult relationship between them, despite their closeness. Gail first arrived in the Street in 1974 and for a few years she lodged with Elsie Tanner at No.11, sharing a room with Suzie Birchall.

The young happy-go-lucky Gail of her teens grew up when she married Brian Tilsley in 1979. Life was a struggle as they were never secure financially and clashed over their living and working arrangements; Brian was ruled by his mother Ivy and he rarely gave Gail the support she needed, while Gail insisted on keeping her job at Jim's Cafe instead of being a housewife and full-time mother to their son, Nick. Gail came to realise that she and Brian weren't suited to each other, and they divorced after Gail's affair with Ian Latimer. They re-married when Sarah Louise was born, but Brian was stabbed to death outside a nightclub in 1989.

Gail had matured into a strong-willed woman who fought for herself and her children. After Brian's death, Gail began a relationship with Martin Platt, who was ten years her junior. Their son David was born in 1990 and in 1991 they got married and moved into No.8 with the children. The marriage ended in 2000 when Martin had an affair with Rebecca Hopkins and confessed to Gail.

In 2002, Gail married financial adviser Richard Hillman. The following year, Richard confessed to two murders and tried to drown Gail and the kids by driving them into the canal. Though none but Richard died, the affair would haunt Gail and the family for years to come; David grew into a troubled teen and his actions caused Gail much grief, with David setting out to hurt his own family, both physically and emotionally, many times.

In 2010, Gail married debt-ridden Joe McIntyre, who after a month of marriage tried to fake his death, which led to Gail's arrest for his murder. She was eventually cleared of all charges and returned home. Her fifth husband, Michael Rodwell, died of a heart attack in 2016 a year after he and Gail were married. She continues to live at No.8 with David and his family.

1958-1978: Childhood and youth
Gail was born on 16th April 1958 to 17 year old Audrey Potter and Ted Page although Ted was not aware of Audrey's pregnancy or Gail's existence and they wouldn't meet for another 50 years. Having already had one child, whom she had been forced to give up for adoption Audrey was determined to keep Gail once she was born. However a lot of the responsibility of raising Gail was left down to her grandparents Robert and Nancy while Audrey was a 'flighty piece' and enjoyed several relationships with different men, later admitting that she played a minimal part in Gail's upbringing. By 1974, 16 year old Gail was working at the Mark Brittain Warehouse where she met friend Tricia Hopkins. The following year, Gail moved out of home and began lodging with Tricia above the Corner Shop in Coronation Street. After the warehouse burnt down that October, Gail and Tricia searched for new jobs and attempted modelling and telesales before taking over the management of the Corner Shop. When the girls were later evicted from the shop flat by new owner Reene Bradshaw and Tricia moved back to her parents, Gail found new lodgings with Elsie Tanner at 11 Coronation Street.

Gail and Elsie worked together at clothing boutique Sylvia's Separates owned by Sylvia Matthews where Elsie was Gail's supervisor. Mike Baldwin later took over the shop and turned it into The Western Front which sold the products of his denim factory. With Elsie supervising Mike's factory, Gail was promoted to manager at the shop. In 1977 Gail and Elsie were joined at No.11 by another friend of Gail's, Suzie Birchall, who worked under Gail at the Western Front. When Mike closed the shop as it wasn't making enough money and sacked Gail and Suzie beforehand to avoid paying them redundancy, Gail found work as a waitress in Dawson's Cafe.

1979-1989: Marriage to Brian Tilsley
Gail met Brian Tilsley at a party in December 1978 and they began dating and quickly fell for each other. By the following April they were engaged and married on 28th November 1979. This set off a fifteen-year feud between Gail and Brian's mother Ivy, who hated her new daughter-in-law. Gail soon fell pregnant and she and Brian welcomed a son son Nicky in 1980. Having moved to their own house in Buxton Close earlier that year, Gail now had a family of her own to look after.

In 1986, Gail had a brief affair with Brian's cousin, Ian Latimer and shortly afterwards fell pregnant again. Gail was originally unsure of the identity of the baby's father and when Brian found out had wanted Gail to have an abortion, which she refused point blank. Baby Sarah Louise was born in February 1987 but Gail's infidelity had caused the break-up of the Tilsley marriage. After paternity tests proved Brian to be baby Sarah's father, the couple reunited and remarried in the year 1988.

However, the marriage quickly deteriorated, and Brian and Gail had a massive argument one night as Brian was leaving to go out to a nightclub. They knew their marriage was over, however Brian vowed to fight for custody of Nicky. The threat, however, was never carried out as Brian was stabbed to death outside the nightclub. It was up to Don Brennan to break the news to Ivy. Gail and Ivy clashed again over Brian's funeral, with Ivy wanting her son to have a Catholic burial, reflecting the faith he was born and raised in but Gail disputing and ultimately succeeding in giving Brian a protestant service, which Ivy vowed to never forgive her for. Gail also struggled to handle the subject of Brian's death with Nicky and as a result Nicky didn't process Brian's death properly and ran away looking for Brian in May, forcing Gail to broach the subject again and try and make Nicky understand.

1989-2001: Relationship with Martin Platt
After Brian's death, Gail became drawn to the much younger Martin Platt. Despite Gail worrying about gossips and the misgivings of Ivy, the two became involved and moved in together and soon Gail fell unexpectedly pregnant by him. Gail did not think it was fair for Martin to have a child at his age, and confided in Sally Webster that she planned to have an abortion but Martin found out and convinced her to change her mind. Gail and Martin married in 1991, almost a year after she gave birth to her second son David. She allowed Martin to adopt her other children, but Ivy deeply resented this and felt that Brian's memory was being forgotten and made attempts to prevent Martin's adoption of the children. When this failed she specified in her will that Nicky would only inherit if he changed his name back to "Tilsley", which he later did. Gail and Martin moved out of the house she had shared with Brian and bought their own home at 8 Coronation Street in December 1991. Although Gail was incensed to discover, just days after they had moved in that Ivy and Don were not moving out of the street as they had previously intended and believed that Ivy had deliberately changed her plans to spite her. Nevertheless, Gail and Martin settled in at No.8 and gained an extra wage when Martin returned to work at the hospital.

Gail and Martin faced problems with the arrival of student nurse Carmel Finnan who was a regular babysitter for the couple in 1992 and who became infatuated with Martin. Carmel was invited to stay at No.8 by Gail after she became uncomfortable living in her nurses' home, but her interference created disagreements between Gail and Martin and Percy Sugden overheard her falsely passing of David as her own son. Things came to a head when Gail stayed overnight with Audrey visiting a sick Alf in hospital and Carmel climbed into the marital bed with a drunk Martin. Martin rejected Carmel and ordered her to leave and Gail didn't believe her lies when she 'confessed' her version of events. In March 1993, Carmel returned and claimed she was pregnant with Martin's baby, driving a further wedge between Gail and Martin. After Gail confronted Carmel and she fell down the stairs at her bedsit, the Platts discovered that she was never pregnant and that mentally ill Carmel had previously spun another lie while living in Ireland.

Having overcome this, the next obstacle for Gail and Martin was eldest son Nick. As Nick grew into his teens, he grew increasingly defiant towards his mother and Martin, so Gail eventually sent him away to Canada to live with her half-brother Stephen. Martin was much younger than Gail and was tempted by other women during their marriage. He had cheated on her with nurse Cathy Power on a single occasion in 1994 but Gail forgave him, when she discovered what had happened through Alf who had spotted the pair kissing. Martin assured Gail he would never cheat again and Gail believed him.

A mature Nick returned in the year 1997, but shocked his mother by beginning a relationship with Leanne Battersby, who Gail objected to and quickly marrying her in January 1998 after secretly eloping to Gretna Green. Gail was aghast when she discovered this and Leanne and Gail would have a similar relationship to that of Gail and Ivy over the next couple of years but eventually Nick and Leanne divorced after Nick encouraged Leanne to have an abortion. Nick left for Canada again. Martin's affair with another nurse, Rebecca Hopkins, ended the marriage and they divorced in 2001. Shortly after Sarah's thirteenth birthday, it was discovered that Sarah was pregnant. Gail had taken Sarah to the doctors as she was worried her daughter may be suffering from an eating disorder. Sarah was five months along and as a result it was too late for an abortion. Originally Gail and Martin conceived a plan for Gail to take the kids to Canada for a few months, where Sarah could have the baby and Gail could pass it off as her own on returning to Weatherfield. This elaborate plot was abandoned after Sarah's schoolfriend Candice Stowe, who she had confided in about her pregnancy spread the news and Gail and Martin were forced to accept that everyone was going to find out. Sarah gave birth to Gail's first grandchild, Bethany Platt, in June 2000 and the family did their best to adjust to their new situation, although David felt deprived of attention and began acting out.

2001-2003: Mr Norman Bates with a briefcase
Gail grew closer to Richard Hillman who arrived in Weatherfield for the funeral of her friend Alma Halliwell, with claims of being her cousin. Smooth-talking Richard whisked Gail off her feet and they began a relationship. Gail's children were initially wary of Richard as he was Gail's first boyfriend since she had divorced Martin but Richard soon won them over and moved into the family home. Richard proposed and Gail gained her third husband in July 2002, after which they departed for a family honeymoon in Florida. Little did she know that her apparently perfect husband was actually a con man and a serial killer. He murdered Weatherfield residents Maxine Peacock and Duggie Ferguson, as well as his ex-wife Patricia and tried to kill others, including Emily Bishop and Gail's own mother Audrey. Richard attempted to fool both Audrey and the rest of the family that she was going senile over several months before setting fire to her house and staging it to look like a tragic accident. Audrey survived after Steve McDonald arrived at the house to return a pair of glasses she had left in his taxi and realised the house was on fire. After Audrey recovered, she began to suspect Richard's involvement and attempted to tell Gail the truth, but Gail thinking Audrey was going mad, refused to believe her and cut her out of her life. After Maxine's death, a guilty Richard attempted to avoid her funeral but was dragged there by Gail and inadvertently ended up speaking at the service. Audrey realised that Richard was also responsible for Maxine's murder and confronted him at the graveside but nobody except Norris and Archie believed her and Ashley and Gail were furious with Gail again insisting that Audrey stay away from her and the children.

Gail and Richard planned to sell up and move to a bigger house on the other side of Weatherfield. When Gail herself began to suspect that her husband was more than he seemed, she confronted him with her suspicions. Richard confessed all of his crimes to Gail, admitting to the murders of Maxine and Patricia. He also revealed that he had tried to kill Emily and Gail's mother Audrey and had left Rovers' landlord Duggie to perish. Gail also discovered that Richard was a serial con-artist. Absolutely horrified, Gail branded him 'Norman Bates with a briefcase' and proceeded to throw him out before informing the police of the real identity of the street serial murderer. Gail then reconciled with her mum Audrey. Gail and her family were forced to temporarily shelter at Audrey's when the press descended on their house in Coronation Street. Gail also faced the anger of Maxine's grieving widower Ashley and the Duckworths, who had been swindled of their life savings by Richard and attacked Gail in the Weatherfield Gazette.



Just as Gail began to get her life back on track, Richard returned to Weatherfield. He tied Gail up in the family car, along with her children and revealed his plans to kill them in a murder-suicide by gassing them. When this were discovered, Richard drove the family into Weatherfield Canal in another attempt to kill them all. Gail and her children were rescued by Martin, Kevin Webster and Tommy Harris but Richard drowned. Gail identified Richard's body and threw her wedding rings into the canal, hoping to put her bad memories to rest with him. Unfortunately, Gail later found out that Richard had left her in big debt, and all her money was gone as everything in their accounts was frozen. Gail faced financial ruin and looked set to lose her house. Audrey however saved the day when she used her life savings to buy the house for Gail, allowing the family to remain at No.8.

2003-2007: Family problems
With Richard finally behind her, Gail faced fresh problems due to Sarah's relationship with Todd Grimshaw. Initially Gail wasn't bothered by the relationship and it was Todd's mother Eileen who objected, believing that her son was destined for Oxford University and Sarah was dragging him down. After Sarah planned to move down to Oxford with Todd and later left home in August 2003 to move into a bedsit with Todd and Bethany, Gail was aghast and was particularly angry at being lied to again, after Richard. Gail believed the flat wasn't safe for Bethany, particularly after she was electrocuted while Todd was looking after her and feeling powerless and at loggerheads with Sarah, she reported the couple to social services. Gail and Sarah continued to clash when Sarah fell pregnant again and intended to keep the baby. Gail was further put out as Sarah began to rely more on Bethany's paternal grandmother Brenda Fearns for babysitting duties due to her feud with her own mother. When Sarah and Todd announced their engagement in January 2004, Gail and Sarah put aside their differences and she welcomed Todd into the family to put the issue to bed, while Eileen remained in opposition.

In May 2004 however, Todd confessed to Sarah that he was gay and was in love with another man. Sarah was devastated and Gail provided a shoulder to cry on when she left Todd. When Sarah informed Gail that Eileen had known the truth beforehand she was furious and the pair began fighting in the street and trading insults, starting a feud that would continue for years to come. Further heartbreak was to come when Sarah went into premature labour and her baby son, Billy died within days of his birth.

During the first half of 2006, Gail received cards apparently signed by deceased husband Richard, which caused her to become reliant on sleeping pills and drink. She contacted the police and wrongly believed that it was new boyfriend Phil Nail who was behind the cards. Her relationship with son David was strained to the point of breakdown when it was finally revealed to be him sending the cards. She marched him to the police to close the case of the Hillman cards for good, but didn't press charges. Gail forgave David and believed that he would keep in line, only to find out later on that he was playing truant. In October, the education officer visited Gail to suggest all the family have counselling for David's attitude. She also suggested that Gail should attend parenting classes.

On Christmas Day 2006, David unveiled Ivy Brennan's old diary, which revealed Gail’s planned abortion of David, and also exposed Audrey's affair with Bill Webster. Audrey was furious with David but Gail, desperate to convince him that he was wanted, defended him. David ran away from home when Gail finally told him that he needed to start paying rent, but finally returned home with the police, after having lied to them that Gail was abusing him. The final straw for Gail was when her granddaughter Bethany swallowed an ecstasy tablet, which had been stashed in her doll by David. Bethany was admitted to intensive care and Gail finally gathered the strength to tell David to leave home after reporting him to the police. David was distraught, but Gail remained strong and told him not to attend the upcoming wedding of Sarah and Jason Grimshaw. On Sarah's wedding day, David drove his car into the canal where Richard had previously driven after leaving a suicide note which was found and destroyed by Sarah beforehand a message on the answer machine repeating his intentions. A distraught Gail was forced to wait for hours on news on whether he was alive or dead and despite Sarah's protests, she left the wedding to go to the canal with the police and wait for news. When David finally did arrive home, Gail swore to him she would never let the situation get so out of hand again and allowed him to move back into No.8.

In 2007 Stephen Reid came to stay over Christmas. He offered David a job in Milan and David immediately accepted. However, because he spoiled her wedding day, Sarah vowed revenge and planted ecstasy tablets in his drawer at the salon. Audrey found them, and Gail told David that he was not going to Milan. Sarah was offered the job and left with Jason and Bethany, however at the airport she confessed what she had done to Jason, who left her and returned to Weatherfield. He told Gail everything and she was shocked that Sarah had been so devious, while a smug David enjoyed making Gail feel guilty.

In January 2008, David began his first serious relationship with girlfriend Tina McIntyre and in March she revealed that she was pregnant to Gail. Gail was a comfort to Tina, who had not confided in her own parents and told Tina that David did not have to know and offered to pay for a termination, which Tina accepted. When David discovered their deception, his pushed his mother down the stairs in a fit of anger, leaving her hospitalised and suffering short-term amnesia. Gail eventually remembered who pushed her, that it was her own son. When Gail confronted David he began smashing cars and windows in the street in a fit of rage before accidentally punching a police officer while being arrested. Gail was upset when David pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to four months in prison. Gail then discovered that her long-lost father Ted Page had recently been in contact with Audrey and was angry that she was not told.

Gail met up with Ted in May, and was shocked when Ted explained he had just lost his partner of twenty years - a man called James. In June, Audrey and Gail went to visit Sarah in Italy as Ted agreed to keep an eye on David while she was away. When she returned, she found that the house had been cleaned and decorated, Tina had been earlier that day to buy some plants to help decorate their house, after she was shown the variety of different plants, she soon found out that she was allergic to some of them, she moved one and found a cigarette burn on the carpet, David confessed about a wild party they threw while she was away. Gail was upset about what they had done but she was also pleased that David had been honest.

2008-2010: Relationship with Joe McIntyre
Gail took a shine to Tina's dad, Joe McIntyre, after David and Tina had broken up. They went on several secret dates because they did not want their relationship to become public knowledge but were discovered when David and Tina walked in on them in October 2008. Shortly after the Windass family moved into the street and Gail faced several issues with them, stemming from the Windasses refusing to pay for a kitchen which Joe had fitted. Joe, David and Tina tore out the kitchen in retaliation and David and Gary later came to blows over Tina. Eventually, the families were able to form a truce. For Gail and Joe however there were further problems as Joe injured his back at work and subsequently became addicted to prescription painkillers. Desperate Joe was arrested after breaking into Gail's workplace at the medical centre looking for drugs and given community service. Things seemed to be looking up when Joe got help for his addiction and proposed to Gail. On 8th January 2010, Gail married Joe - her fourth husband. Their happiness was short lived, Joe was now in significant debt and as a last resort, planned to fake his own death by staging a drowning in Lake Windermere. Gail was horrified by Joe's plans and desperately tried to talk him out of it but he went ahead anyway and unintentionally died in the process, drowning in the lake. Believing that Joe had faked his death, Gail called David for assistance and the pair covered up his disappearance by lying to Tina. However when Joe's body was discovered in the lake, this came back to haunt them and Gail was falsely arrested for his murder and denied bail. Her cellmate was Lyn Fulwood, who she was at first wary of but later got on well with.

2010-2012: Trial and aftermath
With Gail put on trial for Joe's sudden death, David and a recently returned Nick were desperate to see her freed, while a grieving Tina was convinced of Gail's guilt. Over a few weeks David bribed Anka Grabowski, the cleaner of the holiday cottages at Lake Windermere where Joe's boating accident had occurred. She was supposed to be Gail's surprise witness but on the day of her court case she failed to take the stand so it was up to David to help save his mum. Furthermore, Tracy Barlow took to the stand to testify against Gail. Tracy had been moved in to Gail's cell in prison and had concocted a false story of Gail's confession in order to get herself moved to an open prison, but this failed. On 10th June Gail was found not guilty by the jury and was sent home but on the way out of court she was met by hundreds of people from the press so David back her mum away from the press and returned home. Gail also managed to make her peace with Tina after she was released from prison and Tina realised that Gail was not responsible for Joe's death.

Gail returned to work at the medical centre but lost her job in September 2010, when Nick's girlfriend Natasha Blakeman reported her for illegally accessing her medical records, which proved that she had lied to Nick about being pregnant. Gail refused to apologise to Natasha, insisting that she was only protecting her son and was sacked by Dr Carter for breaking patient confidentiality. On Christmas Eve 2010, Gail fought with Tracy in the packed Rovers, following Tracy's unexpected release from prison, still holding a lot of anger and resentment towards her for the way she plotted against her in prison. Over the next week, Tracy slept with both of Gail's sons and made many other enemies in the street, which lead to Gail and David giving each other a false alibi when she was attacked and hospitalised on New Year's Eve, although neither of them were guilty.

In 2011 David had a holiday romance with a cage dancer named Candy who followed him back to Weatherfield and turned out to be Becky McDonald's estranged sister, Kylie Turner. Gail immediately clashed with Kylie and believed she was no good for her son and she was horrified when the pair were engaged and planned a whirlwind wedding, even attempting to pay Kylie to leave. Over time however Gail began to soften towards Kylie, especially after she pushed Kylie to reveal the details of her troubled childhood and Gail supported David and Kylie when they tried to get custody of Kylie's son Max, which they succeeded in and Max came to live with the family at No.8.

In 2012, Gail was initially horrified when son Nick began seeing Eva Price. Eva was manageress at Nick's Bistro, a role Gail had wanted. In February, Eva's mother Stella invited Gail and Audrey to a family dinner for Eva's birthday. Gail turned up in the same blouse as Stella, and then proceeded to humiliate Nick by getting drunk and giving a disastrous speech to Eva, and then commenting that she had bought her blouse before the half price sale.

2012-2013: Gail and Lewis the conman
In February 2012 Gail and Audrey were both diagnosed with high blood pressure and advised to exercise and give up alcohol and decided to go on a power-walk through the countryside. The pair ended up getting lost and went into a pub looking for directions. While in the pub, Gail and Audrey encountered conman Lewis Archer - the former boyfriend of Audrey. Lewis bought the two a drink and ran off. The following month, Lewis returned to Weatherfield stating that he was a changed man and the pair started dating again, despite what he'd said, Gail didn't believe a single thing and in October, Gail and Gloria Price hatched a scheme to prove he was still evil. After they'd been out together a few times, Gloria eventually asked Lewis if he would move to Spain with her with the promise of her leaving everything in her will to him, but Lewis declined. Having found out about the scheme and about Audrey's involvement, Lewis no longer trusted Audrey and he broke up with her. Gail and Lewis began to date in 2013 but Gail had no idea that Lewis was back to his evil ways. Lewis and Gail planned to leave Weatherfield together but on the day Gail announced she was leaving, she found a DVD on the table. Gail and her family watched it and were shocked to find out that Lewis had conned Gail and stolen £40,000 from her. Gail called the police to find Lewis but he'd evaded capture and got to Belize where he was unable to be extradited even if he was caught. Gail found a handwritten note with her security details and realised that Kylie had aided Lewis in his fraud. When she angrily confronted her daughter in law, she discovered that Lewis had blackmailed her over another shocking secret- that after a one night stand, Nick was potentially the father of her unborn child rather than David. Gail reluctantly kept the secret but when David later overheard Kylie and Gail discussing this, he began a secret campaign against Nick which culminated in him causing a car crash which left Nick in a coma in hospital and suffering permanent brain damage. After the truth about this came out at the christening of Lily, David and Kylie's daughter in October 2013, Gail supported Kylie and threw David out of the house again but later softened and encouraged his reunion with Kylie.

2014-: Platt reunion, marriage to Michael and further family tragedies
In late March 2014 Gail met a man called Michael Rodwell, who turned up at No.8 pretending to be a gas man checking for a leak, but Gail soon discovered that he was a burgler. Realising that Gail had seen through him, Michael made a quick getaway and was chased by Kylie but he managed to escape in his van. Michael appeared in court the following month and was sentenced to twelve months in prison. Gail was hit hard by the incident to the point that she found it difficult being in her own home. In June, she decided to meet Michael in prison and put her mind at rest. The pair had a face-to-face meeting for the first time in almost three months, with Gail speaking candidly about how she had been affected. Full of guilt, Michael apologised for his actions. The couple grew close after his release and eventually Michael moved into No.8. Michael proposed to Gail in January 2015, however she was taken aback by the proposal and Michael was worried that he had rushed into things and that she would leave him. However that evening, Gail turned the tables and proposed to Michael. The celebrations were cut short when Michael collapsed as the family celebrated at Nick's Bistro and he was rushed to Weatherfield General.

The couple arranged their wedding day for 9th March, but Gail arrived late at the Register Office when Michael's real son Gavin arrived at the house moments before she was due to leave for the ceremony. Gail learned that Andy Carver was pretending to be the real Gavin and Michael had no idea what was going on. Gail chose to keep this secret and after eventually convincing Michael that she loved him, they decided to reschedule the wedding for the following month. After the real Gavin died in a car accident, Andy and Gail were forced to deepen their conspiracy of lies, which Gail believed was in Michael's best interests as she feared he would have another heart attack if he learnt the truth. Gail had to go to significant lengths, changing Andy's national insurance details on the Bistro computer and preventing Michael from seeing an obituary to Gavin and his aunt Barbara when she visited No.8 to inform him of the details of the funeral.

At the same time, Gail's granddaughter Bethany returned to Weatherfield after being kicked out of school in Italy. Gail came face to face with Bethany in the Rovers, where she had lied about her age to get served. Bethany had stolen money from her mother and lied to her about her whereabouts, Sarah also arrived a few days later to take Bethany home. Having lost her high-flying job with Stephen, the pair also moved in to No.8.

Gail and Michael finally married on 24th April. While exchanging their vows, Gail broke down and ran off. After a heart-to-heart, she eventually decided she was up to it and rushed through the ceremony, so that she could at last, get to become "Mrs Gail Rodwell". The reception ended in disaster when granddaughter Bethany got drunk and destroyed the buffet, so Gail and Michael decided to go home.

The marriage didn't last long as Michael's ex-wife Susan Meldrum sent Michael a photograph album so that he could look back over their son's pictures as he grew older. Despite Gail and Andy's attempts to seize the album it fell into Michael's hands and as Michael scanned through the photographs he noticed that the real Gavin looked different to the one in the room. After Andy confessed that he wasn't Michael's son, the trio argued and Gail was forced to own up that she knew about it but kept the matter secret because of his heart condition. Michael was angry at the betrayal and moved out of No.8 and temporarily took up residence at No.11 with her nemesis Eileen Grimshaw, who was supportive and sympathetic towards Michael's plight. After Michael suffered a heart attack, Gail discovered that Eileen had made a move on him and the pair had yet another fight. Ultimately however, Gail and Michael reconciled after Michael's brief relationship with Eileen was scuppered by Pat Phelan and aided by Kylie the pair realised they still held a torch for each other.

In July 2016, Kylie died after being stabbed by Clayton Hibbs as she was planning to move to Barbados with David, which Gail had eventually given her blessing to. Gail did the best she could to support and comfort her son and grandchildren through this difficult time and urged David to be honest with the children, particularly Max and not try and shield them from the truth as she had done and later regretted with Nick after Brian's death. When she realised David was intent on revenge, she was horrified and with the assistance of Sarah and Nick, locked David in the Bistro cellar while Clayton's trial continued and attempted to talk him out of going after Clayton. Ultimately David escaped after getting Gail to open the door by convincing her he had attempted suicide. David didn't get very far however as he swerved his car to avoid hitting his own daughter Lily, crashing it as a result. After this, David agreed to no longer seek revenge against Clayton. More tragedy followed in November 2016, when Michael died of a heart attack during a confrontation with Pat Phelan, who left him to die, leaving Gail a widow once again. Gail would remain unaware of the true circumstances of Michael's death until Phelan confessed to Eileen, now his wife, in March 2018.

In May 2017, Nick was involved in a quicksand accident, but was rescued. After breaking up with Leanne Battersby for the third time, he confronted Gail, who wanted him to stay. Eventually, after realising that there was no changing his mind, Gail shared a tearful farewell with him before he drove out of town. Gail disowned Leanne and her young son Oliver for this. Gail clashed with Leanne again in December after Leanne fell for a scam and lost all of the money that Nick had sent over to support her and Oliver.

In May 2018 Gail discovered that David, who had been in a bad way over the previous couple of months, had been raped by Josh Tucker after he confided in her and Audrey after finally finding the courage to report Josh to the police. Around the same time Gail began seeing psychic Rosemary Piper. Gail was originally sceptical when Rosemary amazed Audrey with details about Alf who she claimed was in contact with her, but was later convinced herself after Rosemary passed on supposed messages from Brian, Ivy and Richard Hillman discussing his mother, Pamela. Rosemary told Gail that Richard had put a curse on Gail and her entire family. Originally Gail didn't want to drag up bad memories by continuing to see Rosemary but she learnt of David's rape she contacted her again. Rosemary told Gail that she could lift Richard's curse for £3000, but a now unconvinced Audrey and Roy attempted to talk her out of it and expose Rosemary as a charlatan. After they accompanied Gail to a medium session, they uncovered that she was indeed complicit in fraud with a returned Lewis Archer. Rosemary was arrested but Lewis escaped, with assistance from Audrey. Lewis later handed himself in to the police for defrauding Gail and payed the £40,000 he stole from her back into her account. After serving a short prison sentence, he was released and Gail was horrified when he resumed his relationship with Audrey, insisting that he would break her heart again. This caused friction between Gail and Audrey for months and after Audrey inherited £80,000 from Archie Shuttleworth in December 2018, Gail had even more reason to be suspicious of Lewis. Gail followed Lewis to a hotel and saw him with a mystery woman but Audrey still refused to believe her. When Gail persisted, Audrey's faith in Lewis began to waver, especially after he failed to turn up for a dinner on New Year's Eve. However Audrey and Gail discovered Lewis dead at Grasmere Drive, clutching an engagement ring. Audrey was distraught and angry at Gail for having influenced her with her false suspicions. When Audrey discovered Archie's money had been stolen from her account and came to the conclusion that Lewis was indeed responsible, she reconciled with Gail again.

Gail did have some happier news in 2019 as Sarah and David were both engaged to their respective partners, Gary Windass and Shona Ramsey, while David and Nick opened a new barbers together and David reluctantly employed Gail as a personal assistant after she proved herself to be up to the job.

Personality
Raised by wild and flighty Audrey and her more sensible and grounded grandparents, Gail was somewhat naive yet adventurous and fun loving when she flew the nest at 16 and started working and socialising near Coronation Street.

Gail's relationship and marriage to Brian Tilsley matured her greatly. Not only did Gail have to adjust to becoming a housewife and mother to Nicky but she had to deal with the mother in law from hell in Ivy Tilsley, who was over protective of Brian and frequently clashed with Gail. Through her battles with Ivy and weathering her dysfunctional marriage and divorce from Brian, Gail became stronger still. With the arrival of Sarah and David and her marriage to Martin, Gail grew into a matriarchal figure and is fiercely protective of her children against any outsiders who hurt them, but can put them in their place when they do wrong.

Audrey Roberts
Audrey resented her parents forcing her to give Stephen up for adoption and intended to get married in the hope of proving she was capable of looking after a child and getting her son back. When Audrey got pregnant again, she knew boyfriend Ted would propose marriage but realised she didn't love him and so broke off the relationship instead of telling him the truth. As a mother, Audrey was never the most responsible and Gail relied on her grandparents a lot growing up, while being introduced to several of Audrey's boyfriends.

In later years, Audrey finally settled down into marriage with Alf Roberts and became a more stable influence in the lives of Gail and her children.

Ted Page
Gail had no relationship with her father while she was growing up or for decades after, she didn't even know many details about him until Audrey finally opened up to her about the subject in 2000. In 2008, Gail finally met Ted for the first time. Gail was surprised to discover that Ted was gay and had been in a relationship with a man called James for many years. Gail got to know Ted and he finally got to give her away in 2010 when she married Joe.

Since 2010, Ted hasn't visited Weatherfield but still keeps in contact with Gail. In September 2014, Gail revealed that she was still in contact with Ted and she received a birthday card from him in April 2016.

Children and Grandchildren
Gail is a very matriarchal figure and takes a very active role in the lives of her children in a way her own mother never did when she was growing up.

Nick Tilsley
TBA

Sarah Platt
TBA

David Platt
TBA

Bethany Platt
"Talk to the elbow, G, at least it’s got a point.”- Bethany Platt

Gail played a significant role in Bethany's life when she was a baby, giving up her job at the cafe to help look after her while Sarah attended school in the day. Parenting of Bethany was a frequent cause of clashes between Sarah and Gail over the next few years. Gail was quick to scold Sarah when she felt she was not paying enough attention to Bethany and her responsibilities but was equally quick to react when she felt Sarah was making the wrong decisions for Bethany. Gail was horrified when Gail moved out into a bedsit with Bethany and Todd after she left school in 2003 and when Bethany was electrocuted and hospitalised, Gail believed she had been proved right. Gail reported Sarah and Todd to social services and when Sarah found out it caused a huge rift between mother and daughter. As a result Gail was absent from Bethany's life over the next few months and she began to spend more time with her paternal grandmother, Brenda Fearns which frustrated Gail.

Sarah and Gail put their differences aside after mentally ill Brenda absconded with Bethany and Gail continued to be a big part of young Bethany's life. Even after she emigrated to Italy, Gail kept in regular contact with Sarah and Beth and visited them when she could. In 2015, Gail was shocked to see Bethany in the Rovers, especially as she was drinking illegally and was disappointed when it transpired that Bethany had run away from Sarah. Bethany viewed her gran like she viewed her mother, a soft touch, but Gail informed Bethany that she couldn't run rings around her- after all Gail had raised David and knew every trick in the book.

Kylie Platt
Typically Gail has been unsatisfied with her children's choice of partners and when David brought Kylie home in February 2011, it was no exception. Kylie was a rough diamond and Gail assumed her to be like her sister. Gail went to Becky for information on Kylie and reported back to David. Furious, Kylie exploded at Gail with the details of her rough upbringing. As her meddling had caused problems before, Gail didn't stand in their way, but with less than 24 hours to go before the wedding, in desperation she offered Kylie £1,000 to disappear. Kylie accepted the money - but spent it on her wedding dress and a honeymoon in Tenerife, telling David it was her wedding present.

When Kylie moved into No.8, to Gail it was was like gaining another child; another person with no sense of responsibility for her to skivvy after. Gail doggedly tried to keep the household under her control, getting on at Kylie for being a useless wife. Eventually Kylie decided to prove herself by laying on a barbecue, but instead Gail found them having a play fight in the garden with the house a tip. Incensed, Gail announced she was on strike, but after a few days she gave up and accepted the new status quo.

In August 2011, after David found out that Kylie was having Max put up for adoption, he reacted badly and went out to get drunk. Gail had just started on her when Kylie broke down on the stairs and admitted that she was getting rid of Max as she was afraid of failing him. Putting aside their differences, a sympathetic Gail offered emotional support and some encouraging words which convinced Kylie to go for it.

This moment of understanding helped Gail accept Kylie as a member of the family, although she still thought she was a terrible wife. Just a few weeks after their heart-to-heart, Gail and Kylie were left alone at No.8 when David went on a management course. When she saw Kylie flirting with a lad in the Rovers, Gail went over to them and told the boy she was married and angrily locked Kylie out of the house. After Gail got Audrey to sack her from the salon, Kylie tried to blackmail Audrey by threatening to disclose Marc Selby's secret that he was a cross-dresser, however this led to Marc deciding to out himself, humiliating Audrey. Kylie got back into the house using Nick's keys and emptied a pan of water out of the bedroom window, intending to soak Gail, only to drench David.

Despite this event, Gail and Kylie continued to grow closer over time and Gail began to realise that Kylie and Max had made David in to a better person. When David and Kylie's marriage suffered difficulties in December 2012, Gail was keen for them to resolve their differences and was overjoyed when she found out Kylie was pregnant. However, Gail was horrified when she found evidence that suggested Kylie had aided Lewis Archer in defrauding Gail and when backed in to a corner, Kylie was forced to admit to Gail that Lewis had blackmailed her over her unborn child possibly being Nick's. Although Gail was disgusted with Kylie and Nick, she realised she had to keep the secret for David's sake. Months later at the christening of David and Kylie's daughter Lily, Gail discovered David's hate campaign against Nick and sided with Kylie when she broke up with David and didn't want him near the house.

Gail and Kylie both mellowed towards David and Kylie and David once again reunited. By now Gail had come to love Kylie as a member of her family and would attempt to usher reconciliation during later disputes between her and David. Kylie came to love and respect Gail too, realising she was a far better maternal figure than her own mother had ever been. In 2016, Kylie intervened to help reunite Gail and her estranged husband Michael. It was not long after this that Kylie was fatally stabbed and Gail was with her and David when she died. Kylie told Gail that she was sorry for everything she had put her through over the years and Gail told Kylie that she was honoured to call her family.

In Max, Gail gained a grandson and she has come to treat him like any of her biological grandchildren. After Kylie's death, Gail was there to support David and help look after Max and Lily and like David, has been keen to help the children remember Kylie.

Friends
As a young woman, two of Gail's best friends were Tricia Hopkins and Suzie Birchall. Suzie was more flirty and feisty than Gail and was protective towards her with the two young women lodging with Elsie Tanner, who acted as their 'mother hen'. Suzie left Weatherfield in 1979 and when she returned in 1983, with an abusive marriage behind her, she resented Gail for having the 'perfect family' leading to them parting acrimoniously. After she moved to Hammond Road, Gail met and became good friends with Pauline Lofthouse with whom she helped organise a local Bonfire Night display and Pauline would often babysit the children for Gail although the pair later lost contact. Other friends over the years have included Jackie Moffatt, Hayley Cropper and Claire Peacock.

Alma Baldwin
Alma was Gail's employer at Jim's Cafe, having gained the business in her divorce settlement in 1982 and for several years after she was little more as Alma played no part in the day to day running of the cafe. In 1988 Alma discovered Gail had begun a sandwich round with the aid of Gina Seddon and insisted she stop and focus on the cafe instead but compromised and allowed the sandwich round to continue after Gail threatened to resign. By 1989, Alma was broke and offered Gail a 40% share of the cafe. From now on Alma and Gail were business partners and Alma became more hands on, working shifts at the cafe alongside Gail. Gail still took on the brunt of the work a lot of the time as Alma could be idle and neglect her responsibilities at the cafe. Nevertheless, a firm friendship developed between them as well as a working relationship and they were always there to lend an ear when the other was suffering marital problems.

in 2001, Alma was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer and died shortly afterwards.

Sally Webster
Gail and Sally became friends after Sally moved to the street in 1986 and their friendship grew when Gail married Martin, who was one of the best friends of Sally's husband Kevin. In 1990, Gail and Sally both discovered they were pregnant at roughly the same time and gave birth within a day of each other that Christmas, ending up next to each other on the maternity ward at the hospital. As two of the only mothers with small children on the street, they raised their families together and would often babysit and look out for each other's children. Gail supported Sally through Kevin's affair with Natalie in 1997 and Sally was there for Gail when her and Martin separated in 2000. When Sarah went into labour the same year, Sally helped Gail get her to the hospital.

In 2001, Gail discovered that Sally and Martin, who she had now divorced, were seeing each other. Gail felt betrayed by Sally. Despite this, Gail and Sally's friendship recovered and the Platt and Webster families spent Christmas Day together in 2006- although this ended in disaster thanks to David. When Gail discovered the truth about Kylie and Nick in 2013, Sally was the one she confided in.

Ivy Tilsley
"May god forgive you Gail"- Ivy Tilsley

"Well he might, but you never will."- Gail Platt

From the moment Gail started dating Brian in January 1979, Ivy would be a near permanent thorn in her side. Ivy was incredibly close to only child Brian and never believed that Gail was good enough for him. For one thing, Gail didn't meet Ivy's religious approval as Gail had been raised a protestant in contrast to the catholic Tilsley's. Furthermore, Ivy thought Gail had too much influence over Brian and when Brian sold his motorbike, Ivy was convinced Gail had pressured him into it, causing an argument in the cafe. Once Gail and Brian were married, Ivy's interference continued and Gail was keen to move out of the shared No.5 and into another house away from Ivy.

Ivy was stubborn in her values and was offended in 1982 when Gail returned to work at the cafe while a babysitter looked after baby Nicky, believing it was a slight on Brian who was working in Qatar and erupted at anger with Gail when she walked in on her at work. Similar scenarios were repeated over the following years. Whenever Gail and Brian's marriage hit the rocks, Ivy would get involved, although her intentions were mostly good. Ivy believed strongly in the sanctity of marriage and wanted to maintain Brian's happiness. However, Ivy was also somewhat ignorant to Brian's own faults and usually blamed Gail for any problems with the marriage. Her disputes with Ivy strengthened Gail as she had to stand her own ground with Brian often gravitating back towards his mother. This infuriated Gail and she believed Brian didn't stick up for her enough against Ivy.

After Brian's death in 1989, Ivy's influence in Gail's life continued through Nicky, the grandson Ivy was devoted to. Grief stricken Ivy was desperate to preserve the memory of 'Our Brian' through Nicky, while Gail was keen to move on with her life and started a new family with Martin Platt. When Martin wanted to adopt Nicky and Sarah, something which he and Gail hoped would bring them closer as a family, Ivy saw it as the last remnants of Brian's identity and memory being wiped from her grandchildren lives and fought to prevent it. While Ivy thought she was justifiably looking out for her grandkids, Gail thought Ivy was using them to spite her because she blamed her for Brian's death- an accusation which appalled Ivy.

Although Gail and Ivy were often at loggerheads, they didn't totally despise each other and on several occasions showed warmth and respect to one another. It was the love they had for Brian and the children which put them odds that could also bring them together and Gail was keen for Ivy to continue to be involved in her grandchildren's lives to some degree after Brian's death. Gail offered support to Ivy after the death of her husband Bert and years later Ivy confided in Gail about the adultery of second husband Don. Even after the nastiness of the adoption case, Gail was keen to make her peace with Ivy and welcome her back into the family home.

Despite this, Gail preferred to keep Ivy at arms length, knowing all too well how interfering she could be. As such, Gail was frustrated when she unwittingly became neighbours with Ivy again in 1991, feeling deceived as she was under the impression that Ivy was moving. Ivy however, recognising for once how close she was to pushing them away for good, made a beeline for Gail and even accepted Martin and David as family when she took a birthday present for her 'grandson'. Gail believed Ivy was genuine in her feelings and to some extent she was although, as Alf later pointed out to Gail, it was more about tolerating her life with Martin than coming to love him. Gail was concerned when Ivy moved into a religious convent in 1994, recognising how much the children missed her and she was upset when Ivy passed away the following year.

Even beyond the grave, Ivy was capable of causing problems for Gail. The terms of Ivy's will, forged during the adoption dispute, left her house to young Nicky on the condition that he change his surname back to Tilsley, further damaging the then strained relationship between Nicky and Martin. In 2006, Ivy's old diary was discovered and fell into David's hands, once again causing heartache for Gail as it revealed her planned abortion of David.

Eileen Grimshaw
"Go home, Gail"- Eileen Grimshaw

For years, Eileen has been one of Gail's greatest enemies. The long running feud originates with the teenage relationship of Todd and Sarah. Like Gail, Eileen is incredibly protective of her children, having raised them as a single mother and believed that Sarah was holding intelligent Todd back from university and a better future. When Eileen was rude and threatening towards Sarah, Gail leapt to her defence, although she too became dissatisfied with Sarah and Todd after Sarah moved out and became pregnant again, meaning she found some common ground with Eileen. Things escalated after Todd and Sarah's relationship disintegrated in May 2004 and Gail was enraged to discover Eileen had known Todd was gay and hadn't said anything. Gail confronted Eileen in the street and the pair ended up brawling in their dressing gowns. Neither ever truly moved on and when David lied about Eileen's elder son Jason hitting him the following year, Gail and Eileen were fighting on the doorstep again. When Sarah and Jason then began a relationship and got married, Gail and Eileen were reluctantly forced to bite their tongues and be amicable with each other, but the peace couldn't always be maintained and when this relationship also fell apart, both leapt to the defence of their respective children again. After Sarah left for Milan, Jason slept with Becky Granger and Gail found out and told Sarah, there was another fracas with Eileen.

If they weren't fighting about their kids, then it usually involved a man. In 2005, both Gail and Eileen set the sights on reflexologist Phil Nail and competed for his affections. When Gail believed Phil had slept with Eileen, his car having remained outside her house overnight, the pair squabbled in the Rovers. In 2015, Gail was outraged when latest estranged husband Michael moved in with Eileen at No.11 after he walked out on her. When Michael and Eileen then began a relationship themselves, Gail and Eileen inevitably came to blows again with another altercation in the street.

On occasion however the pair have been known to soften towards and support each other. In 2007, Gail supported Eileen when she struggled to give the girl she had believed to be her granddaughter back to her biological mother and helped her come to the right decision. In 2018 when Eileen discovered her husband Pat Phelan was a murderer, Gail turned up at No.11 claiming she had come to offer sympathy. But Eileen found Gail's recalling of her own history with Richard to be an attempt at one-upmanship and slung her out.

Other information

 * Gail revealed in January 2014 that she is allergic to cats.
 * Gail has a Blue Peter annual signed by Valerie Singleton.
 * Martin Platt is Gail's only surviving ex-husband. Brian was stabbed, Richard drowned in the canal, Joe drowned at the Lake District and Michael died of a heart attack.
 * Gail has had the second most weddings of any Coronation Street character, behind only Steve McDonald.

Background information

 * Gails marriages through the years.png was originally introduced as a short-term character and as the friend of Tricia Hopkins (Kathy Jones), appearing for ten episodes from July to November 1974.
 * Helen Worth returned to the role permanently from 12th February 1975 and has remained in the role since then, celebrating forty years of the character in July 2014. To mark this milestone, a documentary was produced looking back at Worth's tenure on the show to that point, titled Gail & Me - Forty Years on Coronation Street.
 * Gail’s backstory was altered slightly when her mother Audrey was first introduced in 1979, played by Sue Nicholls. While Gail had previously referenced her married parents, it was now established that Audrey was a single parent and details on Gail’s absent father were finally expanded on in May 2000.
 * From Gail's marriage to Brian in 1979, right up until Lynne Perrie's exit in 1994, a significant part of Gail's character was her feud with 'mother-in-law from hell' Ivy Tilsley. On the origins of the feud, archivist and scriptwriter Daran Little said: "Ivy and Gail were both in love with the same man and that was Brian, Ivy's son and Gail's husband." Ivy's religious objections to protestant Gail marrying her catholic son were echoed by some viewers who still saw a mixed religious marriage as a taboo which Coronation Street were endorsing, as Helen Worth recalled in The Corrie Years.
 * In 1988, Christopher Quinten, moved to the USA to be closer to his wife and despite his hopes to continue on Coronation Street part-time, the decision was taken by producer Bill Podmore to kill Brian off in a stabbing outside a nightclub, leaving Gail a widow.
 * One of Gail's biggest storylines to date began in 2001 when she began dating Richard Hillman, played by actor Brian Capron. The subsequent storyline which saw Richard evolve into a serial killer was a ratings winner and the episode in which Richard confessed his crimes to Gail in February 2003 brought in 19.4 million viewers, with the National Grid reporting a massive power surge immediately after the episode aired. This made the episode the most watched television programme in the UK in 2003 and the highest rated Coronation Street episode of the 2000s. Save for a couple of scenes featuring Sarah and David, the confession episode was a two hander between Richard and Gail, only the second time in the programme's history that this had been attempted.
 * Another significant episode followed in March when Richard returned and kidnapped Gail and the rest of the Platt family before driving them into the canal. This was another ratings hit for the show, bringing in 17.4 million viewers and was nominated for Greatest Moment of the previous 20 years at the 2018 British Soap Awards- although it lost out to the Hotten Bypass Crash from Emmerdale.
 * In order to film the canal episodes, Helen Worth had to learn to swim and overcome a fear of being underwater. Discussing her phobia she said: "I am the sort of person who does not even put my head under the shower. I hate getting my hair wet.". Worth was trained by a qualified swimming coach and within four or five lessons was able to do tricks underwater.
 * With the relationship between Sarah and Todd Grimshaw, an ongoing feud was conceived between Gail and Eileen Grimshaw, played by Sue Cleaver. [[Image:GailMcIntyre2010.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Publicity shot of [[Helen Worth]]]]
 * As of 2019, Helen Worth has made the second-highest number of Coronation Street appearances, behind William Roache and the highest of any female actress.

First and last lines
"He's not coming." (First line, to Tricia Hopkins, referring to Ray Langton)

Appendices
(To be completed)