Ernest "Sarge" Bailey is the father of Ed and Ronnie Bailey.
Sarge had been excluded from the truth about Ed's gambling addiction which had seen him and his family forced to downsize to 3 Coronation Street in 2019. Instead, Sarge was led to believe that it had been a string of poor business decisions made by Ed that had brought him close to bankruptcy. When Sarge announced that he was visiting Weatherfield at the end of November 2023, Ed was panicked as he had secretly suffered a gambling relapse and was up to his eyes in debt. Unaware of Ed's situation, Ronnie suggested that they went half on a fancy meal at the Viaduct Bistro to celebrate Sarge's arrival.
Sarge relentlessly judged and berated Ed, giving his grandchildren Michael and Dee-Dee reason to warn him that he would be no longer welcome if his treatment of their father persisted. When Sarge protested, Dee-Dee revealed the truth behind Ed's previous gambling issues. She informed Sarge that gambling was an illness and that the family were proud of Ed for overcoming his addiction. Sarge contested that gambling was a weakness, but agreed to cut Ed some slack. Sarge confessed that he was going through some business issues of his own and asked his sons to borrow £2,000 in order to set up another food truck in Dominica. Ronnie immediately agreed to pay half, but Ed was reluctant due to his ever-spiralling debts. Ed told Sarge that he would transfer him his share of the money once he was back in Dominica but invited him to stay for Christmas to prolong the inevitable payment, Sarge agreed.
Ed was annoyed when Sarge returned to 3 Coronation Street laden with Christmas presents for his family. Ed questioned why he needed the money if he had enough to buy gifts, but Sarge insisted that the presents didn't cost much. When Ed learned that Paul Foreman's disability grant had come through, meaning that he would be able to pay him £1,000 for fitting his stairlift, Ed was relieved as it meant that he could finally pay off his worker Tony Byrne who had become increasingly more aggressive in pursuit of the money Ed owed him. However, Sarge intercepted the money first and took it as payment of the money Ed had agreed to lend him. Furious at having been messed around again, Tony beat Ed up and forced him to pawn his family's Christmas presents to raise the funds. Ed later falsely claimed that thieves had broken into the house and taken all the presents. Michael and Dee-Dee reported the incident to the police but after learning that Glory's Wendy house had been traced to a pawn shop in Urmston, Craig Tinker found CCTV evidence that Ed had been the one to pawn the gifts. The whole family turned on Ed following the revelation.
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List of appearances[]
2023
- Mon 27th Nov (1&2)
- Wed 29th Nov (1&2)
- Fri 1st Dec (2)
- Mon 18th Dec (1&2)
- Wed 20th Dec 1&2)
- Fri 22nd Dec (1&2)
- Mon 25th Dec
- Wed 27th Dec (1&2)
- Fri 29th Dec (1&2)
2024