Jean Wilkins was one of three women who went to an after-hours drinking session at the Rovers at Billy Walker's invitation in 1974. Billy and Len Fairclough had organised the private bash to cheer Ken Barlow up after the breakdown of his and Janet Barlow's marriage but it was a surprise to Ken and Len when Jean, Gaynor Burton and Maureen Hicks walked in, and Billy encouraged them to pair off, but warned them to keep their mucky hands off Jean as she was his. Jean spent the night in Billy's company and he drove her home at 3.00am, along with the other women.
One month later, a colleague of Jean's at the Mark Brittain Warehouse, Peggy Barton, led the workforce in a fight against the management for union representation. Jean, Gaynor and Maureen were present at a meeting where Ken - the warehouse's Executive Administrative Assistant - and Peggy debated the need for a union. Jean was in favour of a union and satisfied with Peggy's eventual victory but wasn't convinced that the union would support them if they called a strike - pessimism stemming from her fear of having to stop at home at with her husband Frank's mother.
Jean also had a boyfriend called Tommy who was more attentive than her husband; Frank gave her a bottle of gin for her birthday even though she'd been on Bacardi and coke for three years.