Bethany Britney Platt is the daughter of Sarah Platt and the late Neil Fearns. She was born in 2000 to 13-year-old Sarah, who had a brief sexual encounter with classmate Neil. Neil didn't have anything to do with Bethany and died three years after her birth. Bethany has two half-brothers; Billy, who died shortly after birth, and Harry.
Bethany went through a lot of drama in her early childhood. She was kidnapped hours after birth by Alison Webster following the death of her own child and was nearly murdered by her step-grandfather Richard Hillman when he drove himself and the Platt family into the canal. She was kidnapped on another occasion by her unstable paternal grandmother Brenda Fearns. At the age of seven she almost died after taking ecstasy tablets her uncle David Platt had left in her doll.
In December 2007, Sarah and Bethany left Weatherfield for a new life in Milan and returned in March 2015. Now a teenager, Bethany had grown mouthy and rebellious and had initially returned without her mother's permission following her school expulsion. Bethany became involved with her mother's dangerous new boyfriend Callum Logan, but soon grew to fear him after he revealed his true colours. A more vulnerable Bethany soon found herself the victim of school bullying which further led to self-esteem issues. Seeking attention from older men, Bethany found a love interest in the form of Nathan Curtis whose apparent mutual feelings were actually part of a more sinister motive.
Biography
2000-2007: Dramatic childhood
Sarah cradles baby Bethany in 2000, supported by mother Gail and stepfather Martin
Sarah was just thirteen when she gave birth to Bethany. Her dad Neil wanted nothing to do with her and became an "absent father". Moments after birth, Alison Webster (who lost her baby Jake) kidnapped Bethany and threatened to kill herself. However Alison handed Bethany back over to her mother and ran in front of a truck (it wasn't known if this was an accident or on purpose).
When Bethany was two, Sarah almost died in a car crash because of her boyfriend Aidan Critchley who was joyriding. She knew how much Bethany meant to her and decided to become more of a good mother.
Gail's husband Richard Hillman tied up and gagged Bethany along with David, Sarah and Gail and tried to kill them by driving into the canal. They were rescued but Richard perished.
In 2003, her father Neil Fearns died in a road accident and Sarah took her to Neil's funeral. Neil's mother Brenda kidnapped Bethany and threatened to jump from the tower of St. Saviour's Church, so they could be reunited with Neil. But Emily Bishop managed to stop her and talked her out of it. Brenda was last seen sobbing in the back of an ambulance.
In 2004 Bethany had a new father figure in the form of Todd Grimshaw who began dating her mother and they moved into 17a Victoria Street. Todd got Sarah pregnant, and even showed interest in adopting Bethany to become a proper father to her. However none of this went ahead as Todd was a closet homosexual, and later had an affair with nurse Karl Foster (after an unsuccessful attempt to kiss Bethany's uncle Nick Tilsley) and thus broke up with her mother. Sarah gave birth to a son, Billy however he passed away a few days after his birth, and Todd later left Weatherfield for London. Sarah eventually dated Todd's older half-brother Jason.
Bethany in hospital after accidentally taking ecstasy pills
While David was meant to be looking after Bethany in September 2007, he hid ecstasy tablets in her doll for his friend Darryl Morton. Bethany found and ate one of them and David made her drink loads of salt water to bring the tablet back up, inadvertently making the situation worse. Bethany fell unconscious and was rushed into Weatherfield General in critical condition. Sarah was furious with David when he confessed what had happened and Gail kicked him out of the house. After a few days Bethany recovered. She was a bridesmaid at her mother's wedding to Jason the following month (although the day was ruined when David faked a suicide attempt).
2007-2015: New life in Italy
In December 2007, Sarah planned to move to Italy with Jason and Bethany with her uncle, Stephen Reid. David was originally meant to go, but to get back at him for all the things he had done to her, Sarah planted ecstasy tablets in his drawer at Audrey's salon. Gail and Stephen were appalled and David was told in no uncertain terms that he couldn't go back to Milan with Stephen. Ready to embark on their new lives, Sarah proudly told Jason what she had done but this backfired as he was sickened and returned to Coronation Street to tell Gail and David what Sarah had done. Sarah left for Italy with Bethany. In July 2008, Gail went to visit them and in June 2009, Gail was accompanied on a visit by her mother Audrey Roberts.
2015-2016: Return from Italy
In March 2015, Bethany was expelled from her school in Milan, so stole money from her mother and paid for a trip back to the United Kingdom. She returned to Coronation Street after seven years, and immediately started causing trouble by dodging the taxi fare, persuading "Gavin Rodwell" to buy her a drink and arguing with Steph Britton. Gail caught Bethany drinking under age and took her to No.8. Bethany told Gail that Sarah was ignoring her and was more interested in work, but Gail got the true story from Sarah over the phone, and told Bethany that she would be returning to Milan. Bethany tried to get sympathy from Audrey by saying that she was being bullied at school, However, Gail insisted that she go back to Milan with her mother.
Sarah arrived in Weatherfield, and demanded that Bethany return to Milan with her. Sarah told boss (and uncle) Stephen that her internet was down, so she couldn't complete her work which was urgently needed. Bethany took advantage of this, and used the internet to email Stephen, who found out that Sarah was lying. Stephen subsequently called Sarah and fired her. Bethany's plan worked, and Sarah agreed they could stay in Weatherfield. In April Bethany started attending Weatherfield High.
Sarah became involved with Callum Logan - despite warnings from her family that he was dangerous. The two began dating and Bethany also became attracted to Callum, telling him of David and wife Kylie's secret plans to win back full custody of Callum and Kylie's son Max. Bethany spent more time with Callum, believing he liked her back, when in reality he was manipulating her. Callum took photos and videos of her delivering his drugs and pretending to smoke cannabis which he used to blackmail Sarah when she broke up with him over his dangerous lifestyle. After learning that Max witnessed Callum beating up Jason in the ginnel, he drugged Sarah and forced Bethany to give him an alibi. Bethany told police that she was with Callum in his flat when Jason was attacked. She later retracted her statement when Callum used his thugs to threaten Audrey and wreck No.8.
A few weeks later, Callum died after Kylie bludgeoned him trying to protect Sarah from his attacks. Kylie and Sarah hid the body from Bethany when she came round looking for Sarah. Callum was buried under an annex in the house by David and Kylie which was kept a secret from Bethany. Sarah later discovered she was pregnant with Callum's baby and Bethany angrily confronted her when she overheard Kylie and David talk about it. Despite her early apprehension, Bethany quickly bonded with her new half-brother Harry when he was born.
In early 2016, Bethany started to experience bullying from a girl named Lauren and her friends during school break times. Bethany began skiving from school but when Sarah found out, she walked her there every day, to make sure she definitely attended. Sarah found out the reason for Bethany's truancy, she warned Lauren and her mum to keep away. This did not help and Lauren continued to harass Bethany through a combination of texting, stealing her phone and calling Harry an ugly baby.
Callum's body was found under the Platts' house in May and although Sarah, Kylie and David got away with their crime, Sarah was admitted to Weatherfield General with postnatal psychosis, partly caused by the stress of the events with Callum. In July, Lauren faked an apology to Bethany and lied that she herself was getting bullied by Shelley and the rest of the gang. Bethany learned that this was a trick when Lauren and her gang surrounded her taunting her over her "psycho" mother.
Gary Windass learned of Bethany's troubles and reported Lauren to the school in September. After a heated argument between Sarah and Lauren's mum in the Headteacher's office, both girls were suspended. A few days later, Lauren visited Bethany in Audrey's Salon and once again started to torment her. When David saw what was happening, he cut off a chunk of Lauren's hair and threatened to cut her throat if she went near Bethany again. Later that month, Lauren was ultimately expelled from school after other victims came forward about her bullying.
2017 Victim of Nathan's sexual grooming gang
After her experience at the hands of bullying Bethany continued to be self-conscious about her self worth. In early 2017 she met an older charming Tanning Salon owner called Nathan who for the first time made Bethany feel like she had a voice.
Nathan would spend hours listening to Bethany's problems and offering her advice. Eventually he embarked on a relationship with Bethany that quickly turned sexual. Bethany's mother Sarah opposed the relationship from the start and by doing she ultimately pushed Bethany away. While away from her mother and extended family Nathan used the opportunity to convince Bethany that her family did not value her and that only he truly cared for. He began introducing Bethany to soft drugs such as valium and introducing her to his male friends at house parties. Nathan went on to propose to Bethany to which she accepted but he did his best to keep Bethany away from her family.
During this period Nathan convinced Bethany that he was turned on by the idea of his friends having sex with her and on more than one occasion convinced her to sleep with some of his "friends" unknowing to Bethany, he was taking money from these friends for them sleeping with her. Bethany clearly did not feel comfortable with these men but Nathan continued to encourage her by emotionally black-mailing her by telling her that if she loved him, she would do anything to please him. It is ultimately revealed that Nathan has several girls working for him and Bethany is just his latest recruit with the hopes of trafficking her to one of his brothels to be used as a contentious prostitute.
Background information
- Bethany was played by twins Amy and Emily Walton from her birth in June 2000 through until her exit in December 2007. However, she was played by Mia Cookson for a short while in September 2000.
- Bethany made a return in March 2015, with Lucy Fallon taking over the role. Originally actress Katie Redford was signed up for the part, however she was dropped days before filming after it was revealed that she had lied about her age. Redford had claimed to be 19, the age the production team were looking for, but she was actually 25.
See also