20. LEANNE TILSLEY (160 VOTES)
Duration: 1997-2000, 2004-
Played by: Jane Danson
2012 character poll position (men): 16
First introduced as the eldest of the Battersby girls who caused mayhem when they moved into 5 Coronation Street.
Soon after moving into the street she fell for Nick Tilsley, much to the disapproval of his mother Gail who morphed into Ivy Tilsley! The teenagers eloped to Gretna Green in 1998 and Leanne became Rita Sullivan’s assistant at the Kabin. Young love wasn’t what it cracked up to be and when Leanne discovered she was pregnant, Nick told her to abort the baby. This led them to divorce and Nick left for Canada. Leanne then became a barmaid at the Rovers. But after getting involved with drug dealer Jez Quigley, she left the street for Amsterdam.
After a four year hiatus, Leanne was back on our screens when dad Les found her as a belly-dancer. After causing trouble for ex Nick and his girlfriend Maria Sutherland, Leanne began a relationship with Jamie Baldwin. She then had an affair with his dad Danny. Jamie dumped her and then she embarked on a short relationship with Danny before leaving for Spain.
When she returned she harboured a secret that she was prostitute. She later left the profession and opened a restaurant with Paul Clayton. But with business failing, she decided the best thing to do was torch the place to get the insurance money. She manipulated Paul to do the deed and he later fled to avoid prosecution.
Leanne then went on to have a relationship with Peter Barlow and became a much needed mother figure to his son Simon. Peter’s alcoholism caused problems in the relationship. Leanne sought solace in Nick and they embarked on an affair. After the tram crash, Leanne and Peter married in hospital. Peter found out about the affair and their marriage ended. Leanne then went on to fight Peter for custody of Simon, which she eventually won.
Leanne had become manager at Nick’s newly opened bistro and in 2012 they embarked on a relationship and they eventually remarried. But when Nick suffered a brain injury it caused the marriage to be strained and they also divorced.
Leanne went on to have a relationship with Kal Nazir in 2014 but when they had just become engaged he died in a fire in Victoria Court. In 2015, Leanne became a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of Simon.
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