Abigail "Abi" Franklin is the mother of Seb, Charlie and Lexi Franklin.
A regular drug abuser Abi relied entirely on Seb’s support paying the bills and looking after the twins, until October 2017 when she suffered an overdose and lost custody of her children. After a voluntary short stint in rehab, Abi found herself homeless but was ultimately taken in by Eileen Grimshaw at No.11. While living on the street Abi began to better herself by finding work as a mechanic at Webster's Autocentre. However, everything fell through when Tracy Barlow accused her of having an affair with Steve McDonald and sabotaged Ronan Truman’s car to frame her. When Seb learnt the truth he trashed Tracy’s shop but Abi took the blame and was sent to prison where she befriended Sally Metcalfe.
Upon being released Abi moved in with Sally at No.4 and later ruined Seb’s attempts to gain custody of the twins - believing they were better off in care.
Biography
Unknown-2017: Motherhood and addictions
In 2001, Abi Franklin gave birth to her eldest son, Sebastian. However, his father didn't stick around long after the birth and Abi was forced to raise Seb alone. The pressures of being a single mother were too much to bear for Abi and she often found herself being consoled by alcohol, and on occasion even drugs. By 2012, Abi had become involved with an abusive man called Darren - who fathered her twins; Charlie and Lexi.
Seb took on a parenting role for the twins, as Darren was just as unreliable as Abi, despite only being young himself. Seb would often allow himself to be physically assaulted by Darren, something which Abi was aware of but was unable to prevent. As a result of her inability to stand up to Darren's abuse, Abi's relationship with her son became increasingly strained - however, she still cared deeply for him and attempted to protect him, especially after his ex-girlfriend Lacey passed away, by deciding against telling him that he may have contracted HIV from Lacey.
In September 2017, Seb suffered a vicious attack at the hands of Darren which made him finally speak out and tell his girlfriend, Faye Windass, about the domestic abuse. The attack also opened Abi's eyes - she finally finished things with her husband and threw him out. Despite allegedly cleaning up her act, Seb still didn't trust Abi to take full responsibility with the twins and, when his girlfriend Faye suggested that the pair run away together - to escape threats to their relationship by her father Tim Metcalfe and adoptive mother Anna Windass - Seb refused as he didn't want to leave Charlie and Lexi alone with their mother.
2017-present: Seeking help and improving
After discovering that her daughter's boyfriend had actually put a stop to the plan of running away, rather than being the instigator as she first thought, Anna began taking an interest into Seb's home-life and became concerned for the well-being of Charlie and Lexi. Anna's involvement infuriated Abi, who found her to be patronising. However, she later began to take advantage of Anna's caring nature when she allowed her to look after the twins while she took naps upstairs. Despite allowing Anna to continue to help, Abi still found problem with her constant criticisms - especially after Anna lectured her against drinking while she should be looking after her children.
October 2017: Seb and his girlfriend Faye discover Abi has overdosed.
Eventually, after another heated row between Abi and Anna - during which Abi banned Anna from her house - Seb confided in Anna that his mother used to be a heroin addict and that he was scared after seeing her former dealers hanging around the house. In October, Abi had relapsed and overdosed on drugs, lying unconscious in the living room Abi was discovered by the twins - before getting assistance from a horrified Seb and Faye. After an ambulance was called to assist her, Abi was confirmed to be back on drugs and social services, assisted by the police, arrived to take Charlie and Lexi into care. After the incident, Seb accused Anna of being the one to call social services (when in fact it had actually been Faye's step-mother Sally Metcalfe). A few weeks later, when Seb found himself accidentally falling from a ladder whist cleaning windows, Anna became a prime suspect. However, she was more focused on Abi's confession that Seb might have HIV - something he may have later passed onto Faye after the pair became intimate. Abi refused to take responsibility for not informing Seb of the virus, and attempted to blame Faye (calling her "a slut") which resulted in Anna furiously threatening to rip her tongue out if she said another word against her daughter.
After infroming Seb about the possibility of him having HIV, Seb took the news badly and told her to leave. Before she left Abi attempted to cause more trouble by telling the police that Anna had threatened her - in order to back up the claims that she had pushed Seb off his ladder. Later, in January 2018, Abi returned, having endured a stint in rehab, to ask Seb to give her a second chance and to move away and help her get the twins back. Seb, who was scared of Pat Phelan - now convinced that he had concocted the whole story about Anna pushing him off his ladder and that he had killed Luke Britton - agreed to leave Weatherfield with his mum. Abi explained that she was placed on a re-housing scheme whilst in rehab, and she might have been able to get them onto the register - however, she was later forced to admit that she had fabricated the whole story to gain Seb's support again. Seb, who was disgusted by his mother's actions and at first kicked her out, later agreed to go with her in order to escape Phelan.
January 2018: Gary Windass tracks down Seb - who has went on the run with Abi to escape the wrath of Pat Phelan.
Days later Phelan met with Abi, where he pretended to look like a caring boss by handing her the last of Seb's wages. Although, he was actually attempting to track Seb down in order to silence him - Abi lied and agreed that she would report back to him if Seb contacted her. However, Gary Windass later tracked Abi and Seb to a cafe and begged Seb to stand up against Phelan in court and defend Anna. Eventually, Seb decided to go to court and testify alongside Anna - and once again his relationship with Abi deteriorated.
In April, a now homeless Abi once again returned to Seb's life - breaking into Eileen Grimshaw's house, 11 Coronation Street, she slept on the sofa hoping to be gone before either Seb or Eileen woke up. However, she was later discovered and Eileen took pity on her - agreeing that she could stay another night on the sofa. In May, Abi was able to secure herself a job at the garage working for Kevin Webster, however unbeknownst to everyone she was still homeless (making out to Seb that she had turned her life around) and was sleeping in a car in the garage. Following Pat Phelan's death in June and then Eileen and Nicola Rubinstein's exit the same month, Abi moved into Eileen's house alongside Seb without Eileen's knowledge. Abi lied to social services pretending that she owned the house, in order to better her chances of getting her children back, and turned away the estate agents that Eileen had hired to sell the house.
Abi developed a feud with Eileen's friend Steve McDonald, who became concerned about Abi living in Eileen's house without her knowledge - however, after being set up (with Abi taking a picture of Steve with a bunch of her female friends and threatening to contact his fiancé, Tracy Barlow, if he reported back to Eileen) Steve agreed to keep quiet about Abi's living arrangements but advised her to sort her life around. In July, Steve believed that he had witnessed Abi being taken in for questioning after returning to drugs - however, she was actually being taken in to provide a statement after she reported a customer who had drugs in his vehicle, and Steve reported back to Eileen. Discovering that he had made a huge mistake, Steve along with Tracy helped Abi and Seb sort Eileen's house out before she could return. Eileen was furious to find Abi living there and threw her out, but Steve later persuaded her to let her stay permanently.
August 2018: Drunk and upset, Abi kisses Steve McDonald and instantly regrets it.
Grateful for Tracy's help, Abi began to grow a friendship with her - much to the frustration of Tracy's best friend and maid of honour - Beth Sutherland. However, Abi secretly broke Tracy's trust in August when she kissed Steve whilst drunk - after he comforted her following a meeting with the twins (which ended up not going to plan). Abi and Steve both agreed to completely forget about the kiss - and Abi became more involved with the wedding, helping Steve pick out an engagement ring and also suggesting that the pair have a very public and professional first dance, something she knew Steve would not enjoy. Later, Steve later found out that she had been the one to encourage Tracy to have a first dace and he forced Abi to help him practice the routine.
In September, a few weeks before Steve's wedding, Tracy offered Steve a "free pass" to a gym. However, Steve assumed that she had given him a free pass to sleep with another woman (before being tied down permanently by marriage) and wanted to use the pass on Abi. Just before he was about to make a move on Abi, Steve stopped himself realising that it may be a trap to test his loyalties - although, Abi knew nothing about it. Steve began to wonder why he was so tempted by Abi and started to reconsider marrying Tracy - all this ended in him sleeping with Leanne Battersby. When Abi discovered Steve's betrayal she told him that she had no choice but to tell Tracy, but Steve threatened to reveal her drunken kiss from earlier in the year so Abi remained quiet. On the day of Steve and Tracy's wedding, Tracy came under the impression that Abi and Steve were having an affair and so damaged Michelle Connor's car in order to frame Abi. However, Tracy ultimately discovered that the reason Steve and Abi had become close was because she was helping him practice the first dance routine. Apologising, Tracy asked Abi to be her Maid of Honour.
At the wedding Tracy discovered Steve and Leanne's affair and ended her relationship with him, at the same time Michelle's car broke down due to the damage inflicted upon it by Tracy. Michelle and her sons Ali and Ryan were attacked by drug-dealer Ronan Truman and they were unable to escape due to the car being damaged - Ronan attempted to run the family down but crashed, leaving himself dead at Ali's hands and Ryan and Leanne in serious condition. Tracy, who was unaware of the crash, decided to go on her honeymoon with Steve, in order to exact her revenge on him, and returned a week later having stolen his passport and leaving him in a Moroccan desert. Upon her return, Tracy discovered that Abi was being blamed for damaging the car and that the police believed she had been in contact with Ronan due to her history with drugs. Tracy kept her involvement in the crash quiet and was left unable to help Abi as she lost her job as a result of punching Kevin, who believed her to be guilty. Steve later found out that Tracy had been behind the crash, but agreed to keep it to himself as he wanted to win her back. The pair attempted to help Abi through her difficult times by offering her a job as a switch operator at Street Cars but Abi eventually reverted back to her old ways and ended up hospitalised after drinking excessively.
November 2018: Tracy confesses to Abi that she was the one who sabotaged Michelle's car.
Unable to cope with the guilt, Tracy confessed to Abi that she was the one who sabotaged Michelle's car. Abi was furious and discharged herself from hospital, however she only told Seb about Tracy's confession as her time in prison had conditioned her not to report someone else to the police. When Abi contacted social worker Claire Manton, and told her she was planning on putting Charlie and Lexi up for adoption, Seb freaked out and destroyed Preston's Petals. Ken Barlow came across the shop and called the police, believing someone was burgling the place, leading Abi to take the blame.
Despite Tracy being adamant that she wouldn't press charges against Abi, it was too last and she was sentenced for sixteen weeks in prison. On the outside, Seb located Tracy and told her that he knew she was the true culprit for sabotaging the car and that, unlike his mother, he wasn't against reporting someone to the police. Although, Tracy informed him that she knew he was behind the break in at the shop and threatened that she would report him too if he didn't stay quiet. Seb later made plans to adopt the twins himself but Claire informed him that he would have to cut contact with Abi and that, after she was released from prison, she would no longer be able to live at No.11.
In prison Abi was reunited with her old friend Marcia after the pair were made cellmates, however Abi quickly requested to move as Marcia began attempting to draw her back towards drugs. Coincidentally, Abi's replacement cellmate was Sally Metcalfe and despite their previous strife - from when Sally contacted social services regarding Abi's children - they both forged a strong friendship. In order to delay Sally's court hearing, so that her daughter Sophie Webster could uncover some essential evidence regarding her case, Abi helped put Sally into hospital by punching her in the face - however the court soon caught on to the subterfuge, much to the horror of Sally's lawyer Paula Martin. Despite the fact that the plan failed, Sally was able to repay Abi for her help by assisting her in keeping away from the drugs and standing up to Marcia - but when Sally was sentenced to four years she was left fearing what Marcia would do to her when Abi was released and not around to protect her.
In January 2019, Abi was released from prison - however, Seb was not best pleased to see that she had returned to the street and coldly informed her that she wasn't welcome at Eileen's. Abi was able to find a place to live, sleeping on a friend's couch - but when Sally was released from prison she announced that she wanted Abi to move into 4 Coronation Street with her, Tim and Faye. Now that she was in stable accomodation, Abi was able to begin job hunting once again - but found that employers were often unwilling to take her on after learning about her checkered past. Eventually, Abi got chatting to Peter Barlow - who was repairing his new boat - and found herself being taken on as a mechanic to help him get the vehicle sea-worthy. While working on the boat together, Abi and Peter began to grow closer and she was able to open up to him about her past and about her feelings on Seb's ongoing custody battle for the twins.
January 2019: Abi attends court alongside Seb - who is attempting to gain custody of Charlie and Lexi.
Following a grueling day in court, during which Abi had exposed Seb as being unfit to raise Charlie and Lexi (as he was not in full-time employment and didn't have the support of his landlady) - Abi found herself relying on Peter more than ever and the pair became intimate with each other after sharing a kiss. Afterwards, they both began having regular sex with each other and Abi found that her time being loved up with Peter took her mind away from her troubles - however, both agreed that their time together was just fun and nothing serious.
In February 2019, the day after the court hearing - Abi and Seb were given one final chance to say goodbye to Charlie and Lexi. An emotional Abi went straight back to seek solace from Peter, leaving Seb to chastise her selfish actions. Realising that she had nothing left in Weatherfield, Abi proposed the idea that she could join Peter when he set off sailing. Unfortunately, Peter was unkeen about the idea - as he had only been with Abi to make his ex Carla Connor jealous - but when Carla made it clear that she didn't love him anymore, Peter invited Abi to come with him on a work trip to Kefalonia setting sail in only two weeks time. Carla attempted to warm Abi about Peter's nature, pointing out that he had a history of stringing women along - but Abi ignored her, believing her to be jealous that Peter was taking her instead (as Carla had been the one to buy the boat in the first place). However, when Peter's son Simon Barlow discovered that Abi was going on the boat - he was furious, as Peter had originally planned to take him on a sailing adventure in the summer following the completion of his exams. Peter attempted to make things up to Simon, but was told bluntly that the only way he could put things right was to break things off with Abi.
Peter planned to tell Abi that she was uninvited but was beaten to it by Seb, who had overheard his and Simon's conversation in the cafe. Abi was left humiliated and took her anger out on Peter, before drowning her sorrows in a bottle of alcohol. That same night, Peter's boat was set on fire by a burning cinder from a lit candle - leaving Simon trapped inside. Fortunately, Simon was able to be rescued but the boat was completely destroyed - and damage also affected the Underworld factory's roof. Peter immediately suspected Abi of arson and stormed round to No.4 to confront her, Abi was not in however and so Peter informed Sally and Tim that Abi would have the police to answer to.
Following Peter's accusations, Abi was paid a visit by the police - who questioned her about her actions on the night of the fire. When the police had left, Abi confided in Sally that she had been blind drunk on the night in question and feared that she could have been the culprit. However, Cathy Matthews later came to Abi's defense - claiming that she couldn't possibly have been the arsonist as she had spotted her in town at the time the fire had broken out. The police conducted further inquires and visited Underworld to observe the CCTV footage, although Carla (who had reviewed the tapes and had learnt that Roy Cropper had accidentally started the fire by knocking over a candle while sleepwalking) had deleted the files. The police eventually closed the investigation - ruling the fire an accident. Despite this, Roy eventually discovered the truth after finding his clothes - which Carla had attempted to dispose of due to the fact that they were covered in fumes from the fire - in the Underworld bins. Roy was devastated by his actions and confessed everything to Peter, who decided to take no further action due to the fact that the fire had been an accident and nobody had been seriously hurt. However, Peter demanded that Carla publicly apologise to Abi - although before she could Roy contacted the police and revealed that he was to blame for the fire.
Over the next few weeks Tim and Sally continued to support Abi, and Tim once again offered her a job at Street Cars - this time as a valet. However, Eileen had also offered Seb the job and he reacted angrily to discover that his mother had already taken the position. In order to make amends Abi suggested that she could resign, but Seb refused and was able to return to working as a builder for Gary. Later, Abi was shocked to find that Seb had blown his second chance with Gary after he attempted to have sex with Gary's partner Sarah Platt. Discovering that Seb's relationship with Faye had also ended as a result of his actions - Abi attempted to reach out to her son but was once again rejected.
March 2019: Abi saves lives following the Underworld factory roof collapse.
In March 2019, the Underworld roof collapsed - after a masked intruder sabotaged the building during the night. Among the first on the scene, Abi entered the building after learning from Gina that Sally had been on the roof when the collapse occurred. Kirk Sutherland, Paul Foreman, Sean Tully, Gemma Winter and Emma Brooker were all trapped within and pleaded with the rescuers to switch off the power (as a burst water main risked electrocuting them all). Abi was able to find the fuse box and switch off the power and along with Tim, Gina, Gary and Tyrone was able to get everyone out safely. However, the group had failed to notice Rana Habeeb who'd been in the office at the time of the collapse and was crushed and killed underneath the rubble.
When Seb learnt about his mother's heroic actions, he admitted that he was glad that she had survived. Along with the other survivors, Abi was desperate to learn the truth behind the collapse - and defended Sally against Alya Nazir (who accused Sally of causing the disaster by standing on the roof).
Personality
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Relationships
Seb Franklin
Anna and Seb attempt to reason with Abi after she refuses to accept help.
Due to being a regular drug user, Abi was unable to properly care for her three children - Seb was old enough to care for himself but found that he was also forced to take on an active parenting role towards his younger siblings. Seb would do the housework, take the twins to school and prepare their meals - while also attempting to hold down a steady job.
Meanwhile, Abi would introduce a string of suitors (or "low-lives" as Seb called them) into their lives - however, none of them stuck around for very long except for the twin's father Darren. Darren treated Abi poorly, and would often physically abuse Seb (who would take the beatings so that the twins wouldn't have to). Abi was a protective mother, and had hidden the fact that Seb may have contracted HIV from a deceased girlfriend called Lacey, but she found herself unable to stand up against Darren - although, following one viscous attack, she eventually threw him out and promised Seb that she would clean up her act.
Seb didn't believe that Abi was serious about changing, and therefore began accepting help from Anna Windass, this led to Abi relying more heavily on drugs and almost dying following an overdose. As a result of this, the twins were taken away from Abi and into care. Over the year that followed, Seb attempted to distance himself from his mother and planned to fight a custody battle for the twins himself. However, he realised that Abi was his best bet at getting them back and allowed Abi to move into No.11 when she became homeless.
Abi attempts to call a truce with Seb following her decision to expose his lies during the custody battle.
However, after a few more setbacks for Abi - including being wrongly accused of damaging Michelle Connor's car and being imprisoned after taking the blame for Seb's vandalism of the florist Preston's Petals - she decided that she was unwilling to continue her fight for the twins and believed that they would be better off with foster parents. Seb disowned his mother and continued to fight alone, but Abi eventually exposed him in court as being unfit to raise two children. Following her decision, Abi attempted to call a truce with Seb - but he refused to accept.
Charlie and Lexi Franklin
Abi bids farewell to her children for the last time.
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Anna Windass
Anna attacks Abi after learning that she neglected to inform Seb that he was HIV positive while he was in a sexual relationship with her daughter Faye.
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Sally and Tim Metcalfe
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Peter Barlow
Abi and Peter grow close while working on his boat.
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Hobbies and interests
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Background information
- Actress Sally Carman joined the cast of Coronation Street in August 2017, and Abi's scenes were first aired in October 2017 - this was a guest stint, with the character being written out the same month. However, she was later brought back in for another few episodes in January 2018 and then permanently from April 2018.
First and last lines
"Seb said you'd be coming over" (First line, to Anna Windass)
Appendices
List of addresses
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Unknown estate, Weatherfield | Unknown to October 2017 |
| Rehab | October 2017 to January 2018 |
| 11 Coronation Street* | 20th April 2018 to 23rd April 2018 |
| 11 Coronation Street | 13th June 2018 to 16th November 2018 |
| Norcross Prison | 16th November 2018 to 7th January 2019 |
| Unknown friend's address | 7th January 2019 to 18th January 2019 |
| 4 Coronation Street | 18th January 2019 to present |
*Temporary residence
Employment history
| Role | Institution | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanic | Webster's Autocentre | 21st May 2018 to 26th October 2018 |
| Switch operator | Street Cars | 9th November 2018 to 12th November 2018 |
| Mechanic | N/A | 28th January 2019 to February 2019 |
| Valeter | Street Cars | 1st March 2019 to present |
See also
- Full list of appearances