Kelly Neelan is the daughter of notorious loan shark Rick Neelan, who was fostered by Imran Habeeb and Toyah Battersby.
Contents
Biography
2004-2021: The disappearing dad
Kelly Neelan was born on 22nd May 2004 to parents Rick and Laura Neelan. She also had a brother. During her childhood she was left unaware of her father's true nature as a ruthless loan shark, which had landed him in trouble with the law in 2010 and 2012. Their relationship became strained following her parents divorcing, although Rick would still keep in contact with Kelly - and would pick her up from Oakhill School "every other Friday".
When Rick failed to show up for Kelly at the end of June 2019, she paid a visit to his office and bumped into Gary Windass. While Gary pretended to be a client of her father's the reality was that he had killed Rick over a week prior in self-defence.
Gary continued to pay for Kelly's school fees, although she later began to attend Weatherfield High and resurfaced in 2020, much to Gary's surprise. Kelly was involved in leaking a nude photo of her friend Asha Alahan (which was taken by Asha's boyfriend Corey Brent) which led to Asha being bullied. Kelly felt remorse for her actions.
Kelly returned to Coronation Street in December 2020 when Gary was under investigation when accused of killing her father Rick, and the police were trying to locate the body. But Gary was later released without charge as the police were unable to find Rick's body, despite Gary's ex-girlfriend Sarah Platt claiming that he killed Rick and gave the location where the body was located.
2021 to present: Fostering and hate crime
In 2021, Toyah and Imran began fostering Kelly, after much persuasion. In May 2021, Kelly was hanging around with a group of friends, including Corey, Asha and Summer. Summer later left, then Seb and Nina show up. Kelly hit Nina, after preassure from the group. Asha left and so did Nina and Seb. The gang followed Nina and Seb and attacked them on their way home, leaving Nina with serious injuries and costing Seb his life. Kelly did not attack the two, but Corey has told the tale to the police so that it looks like it was Kelly, Imran supported her through her police interview and court case.
Background information
Publicity photo of Millie Gibson as Kelly Neelan in 2021
Kelly first appeared in Episode 9807 in June 2019. Millie Gibson's casting was announced a few weeks prior to her initial appearance and her minor role consisted of five episodes. Producers brought Gibson back for a subsequent stint from Episode 10046 in April 2020, however the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the character went off-screen for another period from July before being brought back in Episode 10203 in December. In May 2021 it was revealed that Gibson had been signed onto a permanent contract. [1]
Albeit unnamed, the character of Kelly was first mentioned as far back as 2009, in Episode 7214, when Rick Neelan (Greg Wood) told Gail Platt (Helen Worth) about his son and daughter. Kelly's appearance in 2019 came after her father's murder at the hands of Gary Windass (Mikey North).
Following her return in December 2020, Kelly was involved in storylines such as being fostered by regular characters Imran Habeeb and Toyah Battersby, and in May 2021 was part of a hate crime storyline which led to the death of regular character Seb Franklin. Gibson's portrayal was well received by viewers and this prompted impressed producers to sign her up full-time to the show, following a recurring role of two years.
First and last lines
"Hi. Where's my dad?" (First line to Gary Windass)
Appendices
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List of addresses
See also
