Freda Bright was the mother of Audrey Fleming. In April 1970, Audrey's two-year-old marriage to Dickie reached a crisis point following her infatuation with Ray Langton, who she found to be more charismatic than her teenage husband. Confessing to Dickie that she was only fond of him, while she loved Ray, Audrey packed a suitcase and left 3 Coronation Street. Dickie hid her absence from the neighbours but after week Mrs Bright turned up from Preston. An arch and domineering woman, she told Dickie that Audrey was with her but she wouldn't tell her what was wrong. She had a suspicion that it looked as if she was shielding Dickie. After questioning him, she worked out that there was someone else involved and she put the blame on her daughter, saying she was wayward like her father. She promised Dickie that she would get the two of them back together and when she got home she put Audrey on the train back to Weatherfield. She didn't arrive, having skipped from the train at Bolton and travelling to the house of her childhood friend Lorna Smeaton.