Mary-Ann Galloway was a traditional tarot card reader on Blackpool’s Golden Mile who Hayley Cropper consulted in October 2013 while on a trip there with husband Roy. Hayley had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and the trip to the resort was a treat planned with supposed meticulous precision by Roy. One of Hayley’s ambitions was to go to the Tower Ballroom however Roy’s planning went askew and they found that the attraction was closed for two days for maintenance.
Disappointed, the two were walking along the seafront when they saw a poster for Mary-Ann. Hayley wanted Roy’s future read as a bit of fun and under protest he went along. Mary-Ann’s booth on the North Pier had a selection of pictures of her with the stars which Roy pointed out were photo-shopped, especially the one with President Kennedy who had been shot almost fifty years before.
During the initial chat, it slipped out that the Tower Ballroom was shut. During the reading, Mary-Ann commenced the reading of the cards in front of a highly critical Roy and she saw a new phase in the lives of the two, though she quickly turned back down the next card she picked up: Death.
Giving Hayley a look, she returned to the subject of her wish to dance at the Tower Ballroom and told her that the cards were telling her that she should follow her dreams and go back there today to find her destiny. They did so, only to find that the Ballroom had been specially opened for the two of them for one hour by the manager, Mary-Ann’s son Michael Galloway. The lady herself gave the couple her thumbs up from the balcony before the couple started to dance to Hayley’s special song, Close to You.