Jake Windass (formerly Joe McIntyre) is the son of Gary Windass and Izzy Armstrong, and half-brother of Zack Rubinstein. Jake was born to surrogate mother Tina McIntyre in 2013, due to Izzy's health problems.
Jake's parents are now separated with joint custody. He lives with Gary, his wife Maria Connor, and stepbrother Liam at 5 Victoria Court.
Biography
Izzy Armstrong had miscarried her and Gary Windass's baby in 2012 and did not want to try for another as she suffered from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and felt it would be too much of a health risk. Her sister Katy offered to be a surrogate but Izzy later refused since the proposal was putting a strain on the family. Izzy's father Owen then offered the surrogacy role to Tina McIntyre in exchange for £15,000, which Tina accepted due to her and boyfriend Tommy Duckworth's financial problems.
Tina successfully became pregnant with Izzy and Gary's child but went into labour two months early in May 2013. Shortly beforehand, Gary had made a pass at her which Izzy learned about just as the labour started. The baby, who Gary and Izzy later named Jake, had to be kept in an incubator and experienced health problems due to his early birth including an intestinal infection which needed to be fixed with surgery. Tina denied Jake's biological parents access due to their feuding over Gary's actions. The events surrounding Jake caused Tina to become attached to him, and as his condition improved, she announced that she was keeping him. Izzy, Gary and their respective families were furious and went through legal channels to gain custody, while Tina changed the baby's name to Joe after her late father Joe McIntyre. Izzy eventually decided to give up the battle, as she knew it would cause disruption to Jake's life. However, after a talk from Tommy and seeing that Izzy cared so much about the baby that she was prepared to give him up, Tina returned him to his true parents.
Tina was later murdered by Rob Donovan in 2014. Around the same time, Izzy and Gary's relationship was strained and eventually ended that year. Gary moved out of the family home at 28 Grayling Street with both parents having partial custody of Jake. In 2016, Izzy struggled with her condition which made it difficult to look after Jake. She turned to cannabis to help control her pain, however Jake's grandmother Anna Windass was unhappy that he was potentially being exposed to an illegal drug, creating a conflict between her and Izzy. That year, Izzy had a stint in prison due to her drug taking and in the meantime, Jake was looked after by Gary and Anna. In 2017, Jake needed speech and language therapy which Gary paid for by doing security work in Ukraine.
In 2020, Gary married Maria Connor whose son Liam became Jake's older stepbrother, although neither Jake nor Liam were present at the wedding. In September 2022, Jake moved in with Gary and Maria full-time, who now had teenager Kelly Neelan lodging with them, although Kelly was unaware that Gary had killed her father Rick in self-defence three years earlier. Around the time that Jake moved in, Kelly learned the truth about her father's death and plotted to have Gary killed in revenge, but changed her mind when she learned from Jake and Liam that they viewed her as their sister, and she subsequently moved abroad.
Background information
Jake was born onscreen on 27th May 2013 but was played by a prosthetic baby in his first few appearances due to his premature birth. From 10th June 2013 until October 2015 he was played by Harley and Layton Phoenix, followed by Seth and Theo Wild from February 2016 to March 2018. Since August 2018, Jake has been played by Bobby Bradshaw.
Jake was absent between December 2019 and June 2022, save for a solitary appearance in April 2021, due to restrictions imposed on child actors in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite his absence, the character remained living at Grayling Street with his mother Izzy and continued to be mentioned.
Appendices
List of addresses
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| 28 Grayling Street | 27th May 2013 to 12th September 2022 |
| 5 Victoria Court | 12th September 2022 to present |