Rosie Webster

Rosie was born in December 1990. Her mother, Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor), went into labour while at home alone, and gave birth in a taxi before she could make it to the hospital. At first, the Websters hired Martin Platt (Sean Wilson), a neighbour, to mind Rosie during the day so that Sally could return to work. This caused conflict between Sally and Martin's mother-in-law, Ivy Tilsley (Lynne Perrie). However, Sally soon gave up work in order to look after Rosie full-time. Rosie had few storylines until the breakdown of her parents' marriage following her father Kevin's affair with Natalie Horrocks (Denise Welch). She then went through a bullying phase at school. Because of this and other difficulties, Sally decided to enroll her daughter at the more prestigious and academically rigorous Oakhill Grammar School. However, in order to afford the private school's fees, Sally took a job as a PA for Ian Davenport (Philip Bretherton), the father of one of Rosie's friends. Before long, Ian and Sally began an affair. Rosie discovered it, and disgusted, both distanced herself from her mother and tried to blackmail her over the affair.

Rosie subsequently went through a goth phase and began a relationship with Craig Harris (Richard Fleeshman). Sally disapproved of the relationship, particularly once she found out that Rosie and Craig were having sex. This led to conflict between mother and daughter, including a near-death experience as a result of a car crash. While the Websters eventually became reconciled to Craig and Rosie's relationship, it came to an end when Rosie refused to elope to Berlin with Craig.

Rosie began summer work as a PA in Underworld, the neighbourhood underwear factory, before beginning studies for her A-Levels at Weatherfield High. She began a secret affair with teacher John Stape (Graeme Hawley). Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine), John's girlfriend, suspected that John was having an affair, but mistakenly thought he was sleeping with Rosie's mother Sally. This led to a street brawl and, realising the trouble she had caused, Rosie split up with John.[8] However, John blamed Rosie for the consequences of their affair. John later returned and kidnapped her on two separate occasions—the first time he held her only briefly, but the second time he kidnapped her for several weeks, keeping her in the attic of his late grandmother's house. Rosie escaped when Fiz accidentally discovered her.[9] Later, Rosie decided to make some money from her ordeal and sold her story to the local papers as well as posing for photographs. Her parents found out about this and strongly disapproved of it. Although John had been arrested for kidnapping, he contacted Rosie and asked her to visit him in prison. She did so, and she was overjoyed when he told her he was giving her £150,000 in compensation. Rosie used the money to buy a sports car and invest in shares of Underworld. However, her ex-boyfriend Luke Strong (Craig Kelly) conned her out of most of the money. Desperate for money, Rosie tried to blackmail John. She demanded £50,000 from him, saying that if he didn't pay up, she would claim he'd attacked her again. When John refused to pay her, Rosie carried out her threat, but inconsistencies in her story soon came to light. Rosie was forced to apologise and retract her statement to the police.

Rosie embarked on a career as a topless model, to the disapproval of her parents. However, shortly after she discovered that her mother Sally was ill with breast cancer which caused her to reassess her own plans for a breast enlargement. Rosie was also supportive of her younger sister, Sophie (Brooke Vincent), when she found out that she was in a same-sex relationship with Sian Powers (Sacha Parkinson). Sophie and Sian run away together, but are found a month later by Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas). Rosie therefore began to see Jason in a new light, and began a relationship. Rosie was devastated to learn that her father, Kevin (Michael Le Vell), had had an affair and fathered a son called Jack with Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns). This caused Rosie to move out of the family home and to live with Jason. Rosie later forgave her father and asked to get to know her baby brother. However, this was a ruse to allow Rosie to enter a modelling audition, posing as mother and baby. Not only was Rosie unsuccessful, but when she returned home she realised that she had brought the wrong baby with her. A few months later, Rosie received an opportunity to take part in a reality television series. She broke off her relationship with Jason and left for London.

Five years later, Rosie returns to the street with Sophie. Rosie and Sophie are arrested after a white powder is discovered in one of their bags but are released without charge as they find out it is only sweetener. Rosie later has one of her bags returned after leaving it in a taxi. Sophie questions her about what is in the bag however Rosie tells her it is only sweets. After opening the bag Rosie and Sophie discover cocaine. They bury it in Brian Packham's (Peter Gunn) allotment. Rosie also sleeps with Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson) who finds out about the drugs and plans to help her and Sophie sell them.

Rosie gives Adam an alibi when his grandfather Ken Barlow (William Roache) is pushed down the stairs by an unknown assailant and one of the suspects is Adam, who lies about where he was when Ken was attacked after he threatens to report her for the drugs. Rosie reveals to Sally that she no longer is modelling and she and Sophie join their stepfather Tim Metcalfe's (Joe Duttine) window-cleaning business. When Sally is targeted by an internet troll, Sally decides to resign from the council, so Rosie and Sophie find out the address of the person who placed an obituary for Sally in the paper. They meet Leah Buckley (Molly McGlynn) and confront her, however, she denies being the troll, but her stepmother is to blame and will get her to stop. Leah visits the Websters and asks Rosie and Sophie if Sally is okay. After Sophie tells Rosie about Sally's state, Rosie goes to see Leah and is surprised to spot her aunt, Gina Seddon (Connie Hyde), realising she is Leah's stepmother. Leah admits Gina is the troll and explains she is ill. Leah explains she has become bitter as, while she was there for Sally when she was ill, Sally was not there for Gina. When Rosie threatens to report Gina to the police, Leah counters by threatening to go to the papers about Sally neglecting her own sister. Rosie tells Sophie who the troll is and they both go to confront Gina. Gina is pleased to see them, but denies trolling Sally and when Leah arrives, she reveals Gina has bipolar disorder. When Gina goes missing, Rosie and Sophie help Leah find her and Gina turns up on the street. Gina wants to talk to Sally, but Leah bundles her into the car and drives off. Sally and Tim visit Gina and Leah and invite Gina and Leah to live with them.

Since Rosie was 10 years old for most of her pre-teen years, the character was played by child actress Emma Collinge.[10] She played Rosie in various minor storylines, most notably portraying the effect that parental separation has upon a child, leading to a spell as a school bully. In January 2000, the press announced that Collinge would be departing the serial "to devote more time to gymnastics". "Budding actress" Helen Flanagan was recast in the role. Nine-year-old Flanagan, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, joined the soap on 23 January 2000.[10] At the time, Flanagan told the media that she was "thrilled" with her casting.[11] Flanagan discovered she had been chosen just a few days before Christmas Eve 1999, but she was not permitted to reveal this to anyone for two weeks. In 2000, her mother Julia Flanagan commented, "She was really thrilled to get the part and she was bursting to tell people but she just couldn't. The Coronation Street people had asked us not to tell anyone, so we had to keep quiet. The hardest bit for Helen was not telling her grandad because he's such a fan of the programme. When he did find out, he was absolutely thrilled. She is loving every minute. She's met most of the cast and is still very excited about it all."[12]

When portrayed by actress Emma Collinge Rosie's appearance was that of a normal young child with unstyled, tied up hair. In 2005, the character tried carving herself an identity by going through a goth phase, dressing in black, wearing black make-up and dying her hair jet black. The storyline was part of Rosie's romance with Craig Harris (Richard Fleeshman), with both characters spending afternoons in Rosie's bedroom listening to a Dutch metal band called 'Stench of Death' and counting down the days to the apocalypse".[13] Flanagan commented on about her character's favourite band sums her character up, at the time of 'the goth stage' stating: "I hate all that Goth music such as Marilyn Manson and HIM that Rosie seems to like. Her favourite rock band are called Stench of Death -that says it all."[14]

In 2008, Flanagan revealed to The Mirror that she disliked her character's goth attire: "I'm used to being a goth, seeing as I had to dress as one as Rosie for so long. It was all so unflattering – really unfeminine, long black skirts down to the floor and horrible jackets."[15] She also said in another interview that she hated black mini skirts she used to wear.[16] The character's style also caused controversy in real life when headteachers in the Lancashire region warned any plans of copying the character's style would result in youngsters being sent home, it was said that: "Our advice to pupils considering following suit would be to experiment during the summer holidays. "The reason we have a school uniform is because it removes any danger of peer pressure to follow a trend or fashion, and although they may gripe about it the pupils do appreciate that. Going onto say: "We are not saying don't experiment, and I know pupils who have tried being gothic, but it isn't appropriate at school.[17]

A character that viewers saw born in the soap, Rosie's birth was part of the Coronation Street Christmas storyline in 1990. She was the first baby born to long-running couple Kevin (Michael Le Vell) and Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor). Rosie was the first of two Christmas births featured that year, as Gail Platt (Helen Worth) gave birth to her son David the next day. The character's name is taken from the fictional street she was born on, Rosamund Street.[1]

The character went through some personality changes in 2007, with her appearance becoming more glamorous and her behaviour became more manipulative and troublesome. Speaking about her character's new appearance Flanagan said: "I like to look sexy, but not tarty. Luckily, I do pretty well as Rosie – she's a glamorous girl, kind of a sassy secretary, so it's all pencil skirts, which I love, and a lot of low-cut tops. I don't want people looking at my boobs or want to be known for my boobs, but Corrie is a family show so thankfully they never go too far with it."[16]

Flanagan later revealed to Digital Spy what drives her character. When asked about if her character is driven by money, she said: "I think she's attracted to the power and money. Rosie knows that she can use her womanly wiles to get what she wants. In the long run, she wants a life away from Weatherfield. She wants to be rich when she's older and aspires to be like Carla – gorgeous, sexy and wearing designer clothes." adding "It's not wholly about the money. She's more driven by glamour and power."[18] She also spoke how the character can be 'a bit of a bitch' but she does have a heart.[19]

During the time of the character's compensation storyline, the plot saw her buy shares in the factory and go on to design her own range.

In October 2011, it was announced that Flanagan had decided to leave Coronation Street. Flanagan had previously been suffering from panic attacks on set. This led to speculation that she would quit the serial. However, Flanagan said it was purely her own decision to leave because she had played Rosie for more than half of her life and decided to pursue other projects.[20]

Flanagan said she "disliked" playing Rosie.[21] Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Flanagan commented: "When I'm acting, I like things to feel real, and I didn't like Rosie's bitchiness. I didn't enjoy playing that kind of character. She went through a phase of being such a catty girl. As an actress you do the best job you can, but I didn't enjoy it because it didn't feel real. I always said to myself that I was going to leave when I turned 21. For me, the show represents my childhood, and I just couldn't have properly become an adult if I hadn't left. I'm so grateful for the opportunities Corrie has given me, but I was in a bubble and the time is right for me to go. It finally feels as though I've left my childhood behind. People keep asking me what I'm going to do next, but I just want to enjoy being me and live for the moment for a while. I've been on Corrie since I was 10. It hasn't just been my job, it's been my whole life."[21] Flanagan added that she wanted to play a "completely different character, such as a role in Downton Abbey or Juliet in Romeo and Juliet".[21]

On 10 July 2016, while appearing on an episode of Loose Women, Flanagan expressed interest in reprising her role as Rosie, but admitted that she would only like to appear in a few episodes due to being busy as a mum.[22] On 5 October 2016, it was announced that Flanagan would be reprising her role as Rosie for a short stint in early 2017. Flanagan commented: "I'm so excited to be returning to Coronation Street and being part of the Webster family again." Producer Kate Oates said: "The Websters have missed Rosie and so have we. With Sophie away on holiday with her sister, it seemed like the ideal time to bring Rosie back home with her for a visit. We are delighted that Helen is as keen to explore what Rosie has been up to away from the cobbles as we are." Speaking at a press event, Oates confirmed that she's been "toying" with the idea of bringing back Rosie since taking over as producer. "Rosie is just such a colourful character," Oates explained. "I thought it'd be great for Sophie as well. I wanted to see Sophie maybe led up the garden path a bit and see her in a bit of trouble. I think that Rosie will cause Sophie a lot of headaches."[23] She has since said that because she is enjoying it that she would like to stay in it longer than what she is contracted for. On 9 February 2017, it was announced that Flanagan had extended her contract meaning Rosie would remain for the foreseeable future, confirming this, Flanagan said: "I am having so much fun being back here playing Rosie again. The writing is hilarious and I am delighted to be staying around. I can't wait to see what Rosie is going to get up to." Producer Kate Oates added: "We are thrilled to have Helen back and delighted that she is now going to become a more permanent fixture in Weatherfield. Rosie is a classic Coronation Street comedy character and we are looking forward to seeing more of her antics in the future."[6]

In December 2017, during an interview with OK! magazine, Flanagan revealed that she was pregnant with her second child and due to take maternity leave at the beginning of 2018.[24] Flanagan began her maternity in April, she revealed that she definitely wants to return as Rosie in the future but wasn't sure when.[25] In May 2018, it was announced that ITV This Morning presenters Phillip Scofield and Holly Willoughby would guest star in the soap as part of Rosie's departure storyline. Producer Kate Oates confirmed the crossover to the Radio Times, promising that Rosie's (temporary) farewell from the soap will "be great comedy". "Phillip and Holly are coming in for a bit of fun as part of Helen Flanagan's exit story," she said. "It will be great comedy and they're such good sports".[26]