Why does gail hate tracy

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Ministers privately believe that falling UK Covid cases - and Back in lockdown: Streets in the Netherlands are deserted as curfew comes in after protests over new Covid After just a few weeks, Ray passed away at Ken and Deirdre's wedding reception at the Rovers. Surprisingly, Steve comforted Tracy at Ray's funeral and they spent the night together, which convinced Tracy that Steve was lying about his feelings for her.

Soon after, they began dating and Tracy began making plans for them to move in together and marry. She was so elated at Steve's change of heart that she agreed to let him be registered as Amy's father, giving him full parental rights, but on the day they were to sign the papers, Tracy found out that Steve had helped Blanche sell No.

Realising that Steve was only stringing her along for rights over Amy, Tracy refused to sign the papers and declared that Steve would never see his daughter again. Of course, Tracy couldn't resist using Amy against Steve and on one occasion set Steve up so that he would be arrested for trying to leave the country with Amy when in fact Tracy had allowed him to babysit.

Steve decided to fight dirty and took Tracy to court. Predictably, the hearing turned into a slanging match between Tracy and Steve, and the judge granted Steve visitation rights, noting that he had clearly been provoked by Tracy's deceitful behaviour.

Tracy went on to date mechanic Nathan Harding for a while, but he dumped her when she made nasty comments about neighbours Ashley and Claire Peacock. She then turned her attentions to builder Charlie Stubbs , who had a reputation as being a bit of rough. Charlie was very casual about their relationship and didn't want to be lumbered with a baby so when he invited Tracy to move into his flat he stipulated that Amy wasn't allowed.

Tracy agreed and left Amy with Ken and Deirdre but quickly formed a plan to make Charlie change his mind: she pretended to get pregnant, knowing that Charlie would insist that she have an abortion. Charlie played into her hands and Tracy was able to use his guilt to get him to agree to Amy moving in. Charlie soon found out, but he let Tracy and Amy stay, making it clear that Tracy daren't cross him again.

Tracy and Charlie had a fiery relationship, and each of them liked to control and manipulate the other. In July , Charlie slept with his ex-girlfriend Shelley Unwin just before she was due to leave Weatherfield. Tracy found out but she and Charlie went ahead with their plans to move into No.

The last straw for Tracy was discovering that Charlie had had an affair with hairdresser Maria Sutherland , which led to a brawl on the Street between Tracy and Maria. Realising that Charlie had taken her for a fool by continually cheating on her, Tracy finally dumped him but soon decided that she would rather get revenge and convinced him to take her back.

Tracy's "revenge" was to take advantage of Charlie's reputation by pretending to be victimised by him.

This involved staging arguments, burning herself with an iron and playing up to the suspicions of Claire Peacock, who she had befriended specifically to get her on side. Ken and Deirdre soon noticed the change in Tracy's behaviour but she defended Charlie, insisting that she was the problem.

She also did her best to wind Charlie up and was secretly delighted when he beat Peter up, wrongly assuming that he was a man Tracy had picked up. Charlie was charged with assault but was only given community service and so when he returned home he tried to throw Tracy out, having had enough of her. Tracy tried to change his mind by giving him a lap dance but while he was distracted, she grabbed an ornament and whacked Charlie over the head with it. Planting a knife in his hand, Tracy phoned the police pretending she had been acting in self-defence but was horrified when Charlie initially survived.

However he died a couple of days later, and Tracy was charged with murder. Charlie's history with women and neighbours reports of their arguments and his violence worked in Tracy's favour. Tracy awaited her trial and convinced the Barlows to pay for better legal aid than they could comfortably afford. Tracy was shocked when David Platt came forward and stated he had seen Charlie attack Tracy and backed up her version of events.

Knowing he was lying, she confronted David who revealed his intention to blackmail her for sex. As she had a better chance of getting away with murder with David testifying, Tracy agreed but put him off by promising to sleep with him after the trial. The night before the trial, Tracy revealed to Deirdre that she had never been abused but had killed Charlie intentionally.

Deirdre was horrified but pledged to support her daughter. At the trial, however, everything went wrong for Tracy; David's arrogance on the witness stand turned the jury against him, Claire's mental health issues led to her being deemed as unreliable and Deirdre, who testified as a character witness, fell apart on the stand when the prosecution made her contradict herself.

Between this and forensic evidence, Tracy was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, which meant that she wouldn't be eligible for parole until Steve took custody of Amy, while Tracy disowned her parents and asked them not to visit her in prison when they refused to pay for an appeal.

Despite this they especially Deirdre would continue to visit Tracy during her time locked up. In May , Blanche passed away and Tracy was given permission to attend the funeral. Tracy was allowed free of her handcuffs to say goodbye to Amy, who was with Steve and his wife Becky , but upon learning that Steve and Becky were hoping to change Amy's surname to McDonald, Tracy flew at Becky and had to be manhandled into a prison van.

Back in prison, Tracy was worried that the situation was out of her hands but was elated when her solicitor informed her that she had the final say. The incident made Tracy determined to have a greater part in Amy's life.

Tracy was then installed as Gail's cellmate but as Gail was innocent a desperate Tracy resorted to inventing a murder weapon from a story Gail had told her about the night of Joe's death. Tracy testified in court that Gail had confessed but this wasn't enough for a conviction and Gail was found not guilty, another jury proving immune to Tracy's lies. After Gail's release, her cellmate Lyn Fulwood beat Tracy up for what she had done. Tracy had greater luck when dealing with Steve and Becky.

Having already refused to allow Becky to adopt Amy, Tracy threatened to ruin their chances of adopting by giving them a bad reference. Tracy hated the thought of Becky raising Amy, dismissing her as a "skank".

In December of that year, Tracy found out that the forensics expert from her trial had been exposed as a fraud and was able to appeal her conviction, and was granted bail.

To the surprise of the residents, Tracy returned to Coronation Street on 24th December and moved back into No. Ken and Deirdre were thrilled to have her back but her past actions had left her with very few friends in the Street. Tracy's first priority was to regain custody of Amy, which was made easy by the fact that she knew from Amy that Steve and Becky had paid Becky's half-sister Kylie Turner to leave Kylie's son Max Turner in their care.

Tracy kept Amy with her, threatening to tell social services about the illegal deal if they intervened, and particularly enjoyed gloating to Becky that she would never be a mother.

Additionally, instead of making reparations with those she had wronged in the past, Tracy acerbated the situations further: she seduced and slept with both of Gail's sons David and Nick Tilsley so that Gail would feel betrayed, and made an enemy of Claire Peacock by making fun of her recently deceased husband Ashley.

This backfired however, as just after midnight on 1st January , Tracy was set upon in the backyard of No. After several days in a coma, Tracy awoke and told police that Becky had been her assailant. Becky was subsequently questioned, although on 10th January Claire Peacock told the police that she had in fact caused Tracy's injuries. She claimed that, filled with anger after Tracy mocked her late husband Ashley, she pushed Tracy who fell and hit her head.

Claire then left the country to avoid prison, with almost all of the street assisting in her escape. Shortly after being discharged from hospital, Tracy was officially cleared of Charlie's murder. She blackmailed Steve into giving her a job at The Rovers, saying that she would leave Weatherfield with Amy otherwise. In March , Tracy began a relationship with Frank Foster , publicly ridiculing former love rival Maria over her claims that he had previously tried to rape her. Tracy attempted to get Steve into bed with her but failed; they returned home the next day.

She was furious and demanded the truth from Steve. A few days later Tracy quit her job at the bar. While on a date with Frank, Tracy talked excessively about Steve in a deliberate attempt to wind Frank up. He decided to end the relationship after he realised her love for Steve. Tracy then told Steve and Becky that she was moving to London with Amy and would not return.

With Steve desperate to keep his daughter, he tried to appease Tracy as much as he could. Knowing that she would always try to manipulate any situation to her advantage, he planned to trick her. After splitting with Becky, he got Tracy to agree to a custody settlement over Amy. Tracy misinterpreted his interpretations, believing that she would be manager at the Rovers and live there with both Steve and Amy.

After she signed the custody agreement, he sacked her from the Rovers and installed new manager Stella Price. In July , Tracy attempted to seduce Steve over dinner at her house but he rejected her. However, following an argument with Becky, Steve returned to the Barlow house and slept with Tracy. After Steve rejected her again and refused to start a relationship with her, Tracy realised that there was nothing left for her in Weatherfield, and left with Amy for London.

In September , Tracy returned with Amy to Weatherfield with news for Steve - she was pregnant again following their one-night stand. He initially rejected her and told her to go ahead with an abortion. Tracy went to the abortion clinic but could not go through with the procedure, much to Deirdre's relief.

After the initial shock, Steve agreed to support her and they decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. Tracy thought that Steve was having an affair with Becky, in December. After searching for him, she was rushed to hospital after pain in her stomach. She lost the babies, but didn't tell Steve, as she thought he would go back to Becky. Tracy confronted Becky, and fell down the stairs after searching her flat for Steve, when he was really on a taxi run.

She told everyone, except Deirdre, who knew she had miscarried, that Becky had pushed her, and that she had killed their babies. Tracy as Cher at the jubilee street party, Steve felt bad about the incident and believed Becky had pushed Tracy out of spite. Tracy was delighted when Steve proposed to her on Christmas Day and bought 13 Coronation Street from Lloyd Mullaney to become their new family home. A few weeks later Tracy got married to Steve, a dream come true for her, however Becky had obtained records from the Medical Centre and revealed the contents to Steve in the Rovers before leaving Weatherfield.

Steve then broke it off with Tracy, however she refused to move out of No. Steve and Tracy spent time feuding over the house, and Steve even employed Owen Armstrong to convert the property into two flats, with Steve staying downstairs and Tracy upstairs. However, this arrangement didn't work as Steve had access to the electricity and Tracy the heating, and would turn it off to rile each other.

Steve then moved out, and moved in tenants - his ex-girlfriend Beth Tinker and her son Craig. However Tracy got on fine with Beth and they teamed up against Steve.

When he decided to sell, Tracy and Beth tried to scare away potential customers. Steve eventually sold the property to Kevin Webster and Tracy had to move out with Amy and reluctantly went back to No. Later in Tracy got jealous of Steve's new relationship with Michelle Connor and wanted to ruin them. She then began dating Michelle's son Ryan , after getting a job working alongside him in Prima Doner.

This infuriated Michelle, and when Tracy began sleeping with Ryan she led everyone to believe that she was pregnant by him. However, when he proposed to her in the Rovers, she turned him down and pretended that she miscarried, making Ryan realise that she wasn't the kind of woman he wanted and broke off with her. Tracy and Steve divorced in Although Tracy was initially reluctant to sign the papers, she was talked round by Deirdre and told to move on.

Tracy then began dating Underworld co-owner Rob Donovan who gave her a job within the factory's packing department. However the pair were fired in June when it was discovered that they had been "stealing" material from the business.

Tracy then started temporary work as a telemarketer for Bugden's Bathrooms , but was hopeless at dealing with the customers while Deirdre was a natural.

Angered, she threw Rob out of No. The couple made up, and in April Tracy proposed to Rob as she felt they made a great team. Upon his acceptance, the couple celebrated their engagement in the Rovers. On the night of their engagement party in May , Tracy slipped out of the pub in order to pick up dodgy goods with Tony Stewart as proof that she and Rob were willing to get their hands dirty after going into business with him.

On that same night, Rob attacked Tina after her affair with Peter was exposed and stashed the weapon along with items from Tina's flat in the back yard of No. When the police began interviewing people, Tracy and Rob decided to make up an alibi and stated that they had spent the night together at No.

As Rob had an alibi, Peter was later arrested on suspicion of killing Tina and remanded in custody. Leading up to Peter's trial, Tracy began supporting Deirdre and Ken, but at the same time she hoped to go ahead with her wedding.

When Peter was sentenced to fifteen years for killing Tina, Tracy decided that her wedding should go ahead and was happy when Peter approved. On the couple's wedding day, the groom went on the run when Carla revealed that her brother was Tina's true killer.

Realising that Carla had called the police and exposed Rob, the women fought and Tracy was left broken and humiliated. Tracy was arrested on suspicion of helping Rob but was released on bail and kept under house arrest. When Rob got back in touch with her, she confronted him at the Woodland Park Guest House where he was hiding out. Although angry, she decided to run away with him. After spending quality time with Amy however, Tracy took the heartbreaking decision to contact the police and Rob was arrested.

Rob was charged for Tina's murder and Peter was released. However, Tracy felt everything that had happened lay solely with Carla and blamed her for Rob's downfall. After Peter left Weatherfield, Tracy continued to blame Carla for Rob's arrest and later let herself into Underworld and trashed the place. Carla arrived back and got into a struggle with Tracy which resulted in her being thrown to the ground. Rather than call the police, Carla gave Tracy a talking-to, and the pair apparently made up.

Tracy began to have money troubles and struggled to keep the business afloat, facing the prospect of the shop being closed down when she was unable to pay the rent to Peter. This came to the attention of dodgy supplier Tony Stewart, who asked Tracy for a half share of her business, however she only wanted stock.

In December after Rob was convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years, Tracy and Tony shared a passionate kiss at his flat and went to bed together. In January , Tracy was involved in a minibus crash which was en route to the Marbury Hall Hotel where Carla was set to pick up a business award. Although the other passengers managed to get out, Carla was trapped in the front seat as the bus teetered over a quarry. Tracy noticed Carla was trapped, and although initially hesitant, she climbed back into the minibus and helped Carla to safety, narrowly missing getting killed when the minibus plunged into the quarry.

Tracy watching on as Victoria Court is ablaze. In May , Tracy broke into 12 Victoria Court and attempted to kill a sleeping Carla as vengeance for ruining her chance to buy the Rovers , but fled when she heard the toilet being flushed unaware that this was Amy. However, Tracy left the lit candle she was holding too close to a lampshade which caused a fire to start, trapping both Carla and Amy inside. Upon noticing the fire, Tracy was at first happy to have get revenge, but when informed by Liz that Amy was in the burning flat, Tracy tried to get inside - only to be restrained by the others.

Fortunately, Amy managed to get out of the flat safely and was reunited with Tracy. Upon learning that Kal Nazir perished in the blaze, Tracy wasted no time by dripping poison into people's ears that Carla must have been responsible and spreading a false rumour that Carla must have been drunk and left the candle burning. Tracy excitedly awaited the return of her mum in July , but was devastated when Bev Unwin informed her, Ken and Audrey Roberts that Deirdre had passed away from an aneurysm.

A few days later Deirdre's funeral was held. During the funeral Tracy noticed her ex-husband Robert Preston in the crowd. The two got back together soon after the funeral was over. After the fire Carla had suffered from survivor's guilt and developed a gambling and alcohol addiction. In September , Carla came close to suicide when she and Tracy drove to a quarry. Carla flipped a coin saying Heads I stand, Tails I fall , landing tails.

Carla prepared to jump but Tracy yelled out begging her to stop and revealed that she had started the murderous fire. Carla then went to tell Nick and Michelle about her confession, while in the Rovers Tracy was arrested and sent to prison where she was interrogated by the police.

She spent the night in a cell. The next day she was released and was taken home by Robert. She went to Highfield Prison to meet him and Rob confessed that he missed her and said that his time in prison gave him time to think. Tracy failed to mention that she was in another relationship, but promised Rob she would visit him again.

However Tracy was initially unaware that Rob had no feelings for her. Rob learned of Tracy's relationship with Robert from Johnny Connor and persuaded Robert to visit him. He was able to prove to Robert that Tracy had been visiting him and telling him that she wanted to spend her life with him. Robert had been planning on proposing to Tracy of which she was aware and on Christmas Day, when she thought Robert was about to pop the question, he instead asked her about her visits to Rob, dumping her publicly in the Rovers.

Rob also soon told her had no feelings for her and was toying with her as revenge for getting him sent to prison. A few days later, a drunken Robert and Carla slept together. Tracy spent time and effort trying to convince Robert to take her back. She also decided to shut down Barlow's Buys and replace it with a flower shop.

To show to Robert how serious she was, she named the shop after him - Preston's Petals - which displeased Robert. Eventually he caved in and got back together with her. Tracy learned of Carla and Robert's one-night stand when she eavesdropped on them. Carla was engaged to Nick and Tracy blackmailed her, threatening to reveal her infidelity to Nick unless she persuaded him to sell Nick's Bistro to Robert and then move away for good.

Carla, feeling trapped, obliged and Robert was now the Bistro's owner. Carla and Nick were due to leave in May after their wedding. On the big day, Johnny Connor locked Tracy in the cupboard at Underworld to prevent her from interfering.

The cupboard was guarded by Jenny Bradley but she was freed by Aidan Connor just in time to arrive at the wedding. Tracy spilled all to Nick and the guests but was dragged off moments later. Tracy was thrilled to learn that Nick had dumped Carla but was soon devastated when a disgusted Robert left her and Amy refused to speak to her, moving to live with her dad.

After a few weeks, Tracy made up with her daughter. In January , Tracy grew close to Luke Britton and they got together, despite the large age gap. They kept their relationship quiet from Ken and Amy. They split up after Tracy refused to make their relationship official. In March , Tracy helped former partner, Rob Donovan, to hide from the police after he escaped prison.

She hid him in V Court Fitness and took him food and medicine. In May , Tracy and Rob decided to go on the run together, with Amy. They hid in a cottage together but when the police arrived, Tracy let Rob get Amy home while she got arrested, out of love for him. Tracy lied to the police to cover for Rob and falsely believing that Amy was guilty of pushing Ken down the stairs, confessed to the crime herself.

When Rob turned up at court during Tracy's hearing to tell Tracy that Amy was innocent and provide her with an alibi for the night of Ken's attack, she retracted her confession. Tracy was released and reunited with her daughter but received a suspended sentence for perverting the course of justice. In December , Tracy and Steve decided to give their relationship another go and started dating again, much to Amy's horror. Despite Amy's misgivings, Steve and Tracy stayed together but Tracy was unsure of Steve's commitment.

In June , due to a misunderstanding Steve inadvertently ended up proposing to Tracy again. The wedding day arrived in October , but after Beth Sutherland saw Steve leaving Abi Franklin 's house, Tracy mistakenly believed that the pair had been having an affair.

Typically vengeful, Tracy deliberatly sabotaged Michelle Connor's car which mechanic Abi had been working on at the garage with the intention of getting Abi into trouble.

When she confronted Steve however, she realised she was mistaken and that Abi had actually been giving Steve dance lessons. This in turn caused another misunderstanding and Tracy learnt that Steve had slept with Leanne while they were together.

Fuming, Tracy punched Steve during their first dance and then began a food fight with Leanne. Steve begged Tracy for forgiveness and encouraged her to go on their honeymoon to Morocco with him. After much deliberation and drunken crying on Ken's shoulder, Tracy accompanied Steve to Morocco but left him stranded in the middle of the desert before trashing their hotel room, taking Steve's passport and returning home alone, still bitter over his infidelity.

Upon her return however, fresh drama awaited Tracy as she heard the full story behind Ronan Truman 's death and realised that as part of the investigation the police were looking into the damage to Michelle's car which she had vandalised on the morning of the wedding.

Furthermore, Abi had already come under suspicion as she was responsible for working on the car immediately before Michelle drove off in it and she also had a chequered past where the law was concerned.

In order to protect herself from arrest, Tracy grabbed Abi's keys when her back was turned and stole the laptop containing the CCTV footage from the garage but in doing so further implicated Abi and leading to her being sacked from the garage by Kevin. Meanwhile Steve finally arrived back in Weatherfield a few days after Tracy, having had to hitchhike through the desert.

Although they bickered, Steve still wanted a reconciliation with Tracy and she used this to convince him to employ Abi at Street Cars as she was feeling guilty about the impact the false accusation had on her chances of regaining custody of her twins. I mean, even her initials are a killer disease!

Tracy Barlow grew up surrounded by loving parents and friendly neighbours. But she was also the only child of two broken families, surviving first the separation of her parents and, years later, the divorce of her mother and stepfather. One disappointment tended to follow another in the Barlow household so a thick skin and a no-nonsense demeanour was a matter of survival for Tracy. As a teenager, Tracy was moody and sullen, and longed for independence.

She fled the nest at 16 to live with her teenage boyfriend Craig and increasingly distanced herself from her parents. Once she married and moved to London , she changed even more, returning to Weatherfield a grown woman. Although she was a talented florist, Tracy was never career-oriented; her goals were much more primal. Concerned usually with her own satisfaction, she enjoyed manipulating men for sex or money, and getting one over on her enemies, of which she was never in short supply due to her treatment of people as pawns in her game of life.

Winning was reward enough for Tracy, no matter who got hurt, as until her prison sentence there was never much in the way of consequences to her for her actions; her family would stand by her even if grudgingly and she could use her daughter Amy as a sympathy card as a last resort. Prison didn't change Tracy, if anything she was more bitter and twisted after she was released early on a technicality and she continued to enjoy ruining other people's lives to get what she wanted.

However Tracy has gradually mellowed in the past few years, becoming kinder and more considerate to her family and others. Although Tracy continues to behave in a largely antagonistic way, she has taken on a more grounded role in the community through building her business Preston's Petals and forming more genuine friendships. She's also tried to have honest and proper relationships with people, particularly long term love interest and current husband Steve and daughter Amy, who form the family unit that Tracy has long desired.

Tracy tells Deirdre the truth about Charlie 's death in a rare moment of honesty. Tracy's most significant relationship was with her mother. Deirdre and Tracy always suffered each other, but despite Tracy's misdemeanours, Deirdre always stood by her daughter with an unwavering faith that only a mother could offer, and got very little in return.

Deirdre was always a vulnerable woman and Tracy brought out her emotions more than anyone. As a child, Tracy clung on to Deirdre and they were very close. The first signs of trouble came during Ken and Deirdre's separation; Tracy saw Deirdre at her weakest and blamed Ken for reducing her mother to such a state. Deirdre was dependent on Tracy supporting her and was harsh with her for wanting to maintain a relationship with Ken, as Deirdre felt betrayed.

In , when Tracy found out from Maggie Redman that Deirdre and Ken's marriage had survived Deirdre's affair with Mike Baldwin , Tracy lashed out at Deirdre, feeling that she had treated Ken terribly. Tracy began to rebel against Deirdre more following this revelation and Deirdre struggled to control her for the first time as she began drinking and staying out late.

Deirdre began to feel she was losing her teenage daughter, particularly when Tracy moved out to live with her boyfriend Craig Lee. Perhaps one of the most significant moments in Deirdre and Tracy's relationship occurred in when Tracy was hospitalised with kidney failure after taking bad Ecstasy at a party and required dialysis and an urgent transplant. Deirdre's toyboy husband Samir Rachid , whom Tracy had never warmed to, was a match and stepped forward to volunteer for the transplant.

Tragically on the day of the operation, Samir was killed by a group of thugs and Deirdre gave the consent for the operation to go ahead. Tracy survived and recovered but Deirdre struggled to not blame her daughter for her husband's death and Tracy knew that Deirdre blamed her and so moved away again. The pain of Samir's death was still raw for Deirdre years later and she resented Tracy's flippant attitude when they discussed the past on the eve of Tracy's trial in Tracy learned a lot from being raised by Deirdre; while Deirdre was forgiving and easily manipulated, Tracy was usually the manipulator, and she had lots of practice with Deirdre, punishing her by making her worry and calling her out on her hypocritical behaviour.

Deirdre was blind to many of Tracy's faults as she looked at her through a mother's eyes; even when Tracy confessed that she'd killed Charlie Stubbs in cold blood, Deirdre still took her words and actions at face value. For the most part, however, Tracy knew Deirdre too well and used her blind love to her advantage. Deirdre was however, all too aware of Tracy's failings and the misery she brought on the family, and once admitted to Tracy that she found it very hard to love her and be proud of her, an admission which surprisingly seemed to upset Tracy, if only for a short time.

Deirdre's death had a significant impact on Tracy, especially when she discovered that Deirdre had stayed away in the months leading up to her death because of shame over Tracy's affair with Tony Stewart. After being warned by Peter that if she didn't change her ways, Amy would either abandon her or put her through as much hell as she did Deirdre, Tracy began to change as a person, albeit very slowly.

Is it any wonder we don't know what to believe? But let's be honest, this time I don't care if you are telling the truth this once because you deserve to suffer just like you've made everyone else suffer. Tracy took after her father Ray more than she did Deirdre, inheriting his laid back, unfeeling, somewhat aggressive attitude. She was the apple of her father's eye while Ray and Deirdre were still together, but Ray's departure at such an early point in Tracy's life meant that Ray's bond with his daughter was broken and the role of Tracy's father figure fell to Ken Barlow.

Ken had already played a role in Tracy's life since she was a baby as he was nominated as her godfather at her christening in May where he gave her a silver rattle that had originally belonged to Ena Sharples and had been gifted to his own twins at their christening. Even though Tracy wasn't his own daughter, Ken had a larger role in her upbringing than he did for any of his four biological children after he married Deirdre in with Tracy as a flower girl.

Ken formally adopted Tracy in and the following few years were the happiest time in Tracy's childhood. Ken's affair with Wendy Crozier in broke his marriage to Deirdre but Tracy was forgiving towards Ken and he remained a father figure in her life.

Tracy seemed to have more respect for Ken than she did for Deirdre and usually sought Ken out whenever she had a disagreement with her mother, as Ken would usually take her side.

Little of Ken's influence is apparent in Tracy's personality. He still loves her as a father but as with Deirdre, he's often ashamed of her; even more so as Deirdre remained shocked at the depths Tracy sinks to while Ken was merely dismayed that Tracy put her loved ones through hell yet again. Ken usually tried to stay out of arguments unless absolutely necessary as he was aware that Deirdre would probably take Tracy's side and further arguments would only ensue.

However, as Ken was less blind to Tracy's faults, Tracy respected him more and his disapproval had a greater effect on her. Tracy was also close to Ken's children Peter and Susan Barlow and considered them siblings, having been previously raised as an only child. Tracy mainly knew Susan when she was little and was a bridesmaid at her wedding to Mike Baldwin.

In , Tracy ran away to Newcastle to stay with Susan after a row with Deirdre. After Susan left Weatherfield again in November to escape estranged husband Mike, having faked an abortion, she had little contact with Ken and as a result Tracy. Susan died in a car accident in but Tracy, who was now living in London with Robert Preston , was unable to attend the funeral. When Peter married Jessica in , Tracy again acted as a bridesmaid. Tracy played a large part in Peter's life from when they both lived in Weatherfield together.

Tracy found out that Peter was seeing Lucy Richards her employer and Shelley Unwin at the same time, and disapproved of him keeping both women in the dark as his relationships with them progressed.

Later that year, Peter was the first to know that Steve McDonald was the father of her unborn child and not Roy Cropper , and implored Tracy to tell Steve. Both parties ignored the other's advice, preferring to solve their crises their own way, although Peter warned Tracy that if she didn't change her ways she'd end up alone.

Tracy remained close to Peter and went to stay with him in Portsmouth in When Tracy killed boyfriend Charlie Stubbs in and was put on trial for murder, Peter returned to Weatherfield to support her. Peter was convinced of Tracy's version of events that she had killed in self defence, especially as he had previously witnessed Charlie's violent nature on a previous visit when Charlie mistook Peter for a lover of Tracy's thanks to Tracy's clever manipulation and beat him.

Peter and Tracy are wise to each others history and flaws and although they love each other, they have been equally quick to warn other people who they believe may be naive to the other's worse qualities. When Tina McIntyre began feuding with Tracy in , Peter warned her to back off - not out of loyalty to Tracy but out of concern for Tina, knowing how Tracy could and would 'play dirty'. Similarly when Peter began a relationship of sorts with Tracy's estranged friend Abi in , Tracy was quick to warn them both away from each other as she was well aware of Peter's womanising ways and believed Abi to be vulnerable.

Despite this Peter and Tracy were still capable of being shocked by each other's actions, Peter for example was aghast when it transpired that Tracy had lied about her miscarriage to frame Becky McDonald in and reassured Steve that he knew nothing about it beforehand. On occasion Peter and Tracy have also played lecturer to each other and Peter has shown particular concern for Tracy's daughter Amy and the impact that Tracy's lifestyle has had on her as he has watched her growing up.

After Deirdre's death in , Peter prophetically warned Tracy that unless she changed her ways Amy would either grow up be just as hateful and hated as Tracy or she would turn her back on Tracy and cut her out of her life.

They certainly had more in common; Blanche was often considered unfeeling because of her cutting put-downs of people. In , Blanche paid her first visit to the Street in fifteen years for Tracy and Robert Preston 's wedding. In , Tracy took an interest in Blanche's boyfriend Wally Bannister after hearing that he was rich. In a new low, Tracy tried to steal Wally from Blanche, only for it to turn out that he was just the gardener at the house Tracy and Blanche thought he owned, and he wasn't rich at all no doubt easing the heartache for Blanche.

Blanche had always hoped that Tracy would settle down and was upset when she threw away her marriage to Robert in When Tracy decided to keep the baby she was expecting with Steve, Blanche bought No.

This didn't work out and Blanche eventually let the house to Danny Baldwin and family, and further enraged Tracy by selling the house to pay for a hip operation in Poland in Emily was a near-constant presence in Tracy's life from a young age; Tracy and Deirdre lived with Emily at No.

As Emily didn't have children of her own, Tracy was the closest she had to a daughter and it was Tracy who brought Emily out of herself after her husband Ernie 's death in When Ken and Deirdre argued over Ken's affair with Wendy Crozier on Christmas Day , Tracy fled to Emily's house, seeing it as a refuge from the tense atmosphere back home.

Perhaps because of this strong influence in her formative years, Tracy listened to and respected Emily more than she did to other people. In when Tracy found herself pregnant in complex circumstances, Emily was again someone to lean on.

In later years Emily was increasingly disappointed and disgusted by many of Tracy's actions but was keen to still see the good in her. Emily was deeply upset by the Charlie Stubbs affair and although she found it difficult, attended court to support Tracy. Amy is Tracy's only child, born in February , the result of a one-night stand with Steve McDonald. Tracy isn't very maternal and has used Amy on many occasions in order to manipulate others and get her own way.

Despite this Tracy has shown more signs of genuine love and affection for Amy as she has grown older and has strived to create the perfect family unit for her and her daughter both with Rob and Steve. Despite not always paying her enough attention, especially palming her off to her grandparents and Emily when she was a baby, Tracy didn't want anybody else to play mother to Amy, least of all a partner of Steve's like Becky McDonald.

When Tracy was released from prison in December she was determined to regain full custody of her daughter and attempted to do so by blackmailing Steve and Becky over the fact they had bought Max Turner , moving Amy back into No. Months later, Tracy and Steve were concerned when Amy was plagued by a mystery illness and Tracy was hurt by the accusation that she could have poisoned her own daughter.

It later transpired Amy was lactose intolerant and had continued drinking milk on purpose to stop her parents being at loggerheads. Tracy is defensive of Amy at the expense of most others.

In , Amy was jealous of cousin Simon getting constant attention from the family and lied that Eccles had bitten her, leading Tracy to order Deirdre to have the dog put down - although Deirdre saw through Amy and she admitted she was lying. Furthermore, while Tracy often revels in her spiteful and vicious behaviour towards others, she is upset and regretful when she sees the impact it has on her relationship with Amy.

After Tracy ruined the wedding of Carla Connor and Nick Tilsley in May , Amy disowned her and moved in with Steve, although they were later reconciled again.

Steve 's passion for Tracy lasted for one night - here, he plays Tracy at her own game to get his name on Amy 's birth certificate. They first crossed paths when Steve moved to Coronation Street in Deirdre was worried at first that Steve and his twin brother Andy would be a bad influence on Tracy, especially when she found out that Tracy and the McDonalds were playing truant from school. In , Tracy let the twins use Ken's flat to transmit their own radio station until they were caught by Ken.

Tracy was always attracted to Steve as a teenager but Steve wasn't interested and nothing ever happened between them. In recent years, Steve has taken a bigger part in Tracy's life.

He is perhaps her greatest love apart from herself but prior to Steve was only interested in protecting Amy from Tracy's games, whereas Tracy saw their sparring purely as a battle between her and Steve. Steve, who has spent most of his adulthood trying to please demanding women, has been manipulated by Tracy enough that he now knows not to rise to the bait she offers.

By the time Tracy was released from prison in , Steve had moved on and found himself a happy family unit with Becky , Amy and Max.