Sarah-Louise Tilsley

Sarah-Louise Platt (née Tilsley) is a fictional character on the soap opera Coronation Street. She is currently portrayed by Tina O'Brien, although two other actresses have also played her.

Sarah arrived on the show in 1987 as a baby, played alternately by twins Leah and Lynsay King. When Leah died from cot death in May 1987, Lynsay took over the role permanently, continuing the role until leaving in 1999 at the age of 12. Since 1999 the role has been played by Tina O'Brien.

History

Sarah, informally known as Sarah-Lou, is the only daughter of Brian Tilsley and Gail Tilsley.

Questions were raised on whether or not Brian was Sarah's real father and was quite a scandal at the time and when he found out Gail was having an affair with his cousin he told her to have an abortion, which she refused point blank, and for a time baby Sarah was rejected by Brian and until he found out he was in fact her real father he kept his distance. He was murdered just two weeks after her second birthday, and she was adopted by her beloved stepfather Martin whom she considers to be her real father even though she calls him Martin. Sarah now works in her grandmother's hairsalon.

Teenage Pregnancy

When it came to men, Sarah was always very unlucky. Her first boyfriend left her pregnant at 13, her second boyfriend left her in near fatal coma, her third boyfriend left her for another man and her fourth boyfriend left her standing at the altar! In 1999, Sarah became pregnant at the age of twelve, and gave birth to Bethany Platt (now seven years old) when she was only thirteen. The father, Neil Ferns, had no interest in Bethany. However, in late 2003, after his death in a car crash, Bethany's paternal grandmother, Brenda, regained contact. This nearly led to Bethany's death as Brenda planned to commit suicide with Bethany, fearing that Bethany was being brought up in a house of sin; Emily Bishop however found them in time.

Car Crash

In October 2002, Sarah went through a rebellious stage and dumped her sensible boyfriend Todd Grimshaw and started dating bad-boy Aiden Critchley who was also dating her best friend, Candice. Then one night when her mother and Richard were on holiday, Sarah told her grandmother she was going to see her friend but was really going to see Aiden. He was driving next door neighbours Ken Barlow's car and the pair went on a rampage. However,Sarah got cold feet and tried to get out of the moving car, causing Aiden to have a near fatal crash. Sarah narrowly survived the car crash that left her in a coma, with the accident causing her to realise just how much Bethany meant to her. Sarah ended her relationship with Aiden after this and was disguisted by the fact that he had left her to die in the car wreckage. Aiden reappeared on the street in January 2003 and was living rough in a disused building after his abusive father had kicked him out following his part in the carcrash. Sarah felt pity for him and would bring him food everyday though the pair were no longer romantically involved. Sarah was devastated in February 2003 when she discovered that her new stepfather, Richard Hillman, was a killer and had tried to frame Aiden for a murder that he committed, and in March 2003, Sarah and Bethany narrowly survived when Hillman drove them, along with Gail and David, into a canal. Richard drowned but the others survived. Aiden was cleared of the murder and left the street for good.

Relationship with Todd Grimshaw

Sarah rekindled her relationship with Todd Grimshaw in the early months of 2003 after refusing his advances for months and, to the horror of her mother, became pregnant once again in late 2003 at the age of 16. She was unsure at first about whether or not she was going to go through with the pregnancy but with Todd's persistence she agreed. Todd seemed dead set on making it work for him and Sarah and even dropped out of school in order to spend more time with Sarah and the baby. For this reason amongst others [Sarah sleeping with Jason to spite Todd], Sarah found herself an enemy in Eileen Grimshaw. Sarah left home to live with Todd and fell out with her mother after she reported them to Social Services for child neglect. Against the wishes of their families they got engaged and Sarah and her mother were finally reconciled. Unfortunately, in an unforeseen twist, Todd was wrestling against his homosexual feelings and started an affair with another man behind Sarah's back.

Sarah refused to listen to her brothers Nick's advice that Todd was gay after Todd made a pass at him and after Todd confessed to her, a very hurt and devastated Sarah moved back home where she went into premature labour in May 2004, losing the baby, Billy, soon after. Sarah never forgave Todd and she blamed him for Billy's death. In August 2004 she got her revenge by sleeping with Todd's brother which led her to be alienated by her best friend who had an on/off relationship with Jason and everyone around her for a short time and it also lead to Todd's departure from Weatherfield.

Engagement to Jason

Sarah then began dating Scooter for a brief time in 2005 before setting her sights on old conquest Jason Grimshaw, despite the fact that Jason was already going out with Violet Wilson. Sarah revealed her darker side as she stole Jason without a thought for Violet. The two became engaged in March 2006 but just like Sarah's first engagement to Todd Grimshaw their families opposed the marriage. However just as everyone had started to accept the marriage, Jason got cold feet on their wedding day sending a heart-broken and humilated Sarah a text message at the altar calling it off.

Family issue

Previous to been jilted at the altar on her 18th birthday in early 2006, Sarah received a card from Richard Hillman, which caused her to break down in tears and this card was followed by six others each on different family occasions. Her whole family lived in fear, until it was revealed to be her younger brother David Platt sending them. Sarah and David's relationship has been far from loving ever since, and there have been doubts about whether they will ever be the same again.

Reconciliation with Jason

Soon after Sarah was left at the altar, Jason returned to the street claiming he had made a big mistake but Sarah declared their relationship to be well and truly over. He even put posters all over the street declaring his undying love for her. However, Sarah began to warm to Jason again, and they began seeing each other once more.

When Jason suddenly found out he had a baby daughter Holly on Christmas Day 2006 from a supposed one night stand a year previously, he told Sarah that he wanted nothing to do with the child. This angered Sarah as she felt that he was acting how Neil Fearns had acted when she had Bethany. He began to see that he could use Holly to get closer to Sarah, and Sarah said that they, meaning Jason, Sarah, Bethany and Holly could be a family.She was shocked to discover that Jason is not Holly's biological father and that Charlie Stubbs is the little girl's real dad. The Grimshaws have since given Holly up to her mother.

Exit

It has been announced that Sarah will be killed off in a fire in the salon that she works at, in December 2007.

Family

• Father: Brian Tilsley (deceased)
• Mother: Gail Platt
• Brother: Nick Tilsley
• Half brother: David Platt
• Son: Billy Platt (deceased)
• Daughter: Bethany Platt
• Grandfathers: Bert Tilsley (deceased), Ted Paige
• Grandmothers: Ivy Brennan (deceased), Audrey Roberts
• Great grandfathers: Jim Nelson, Robert Potter
• Great grandmothers: Alice Nelson, Nancy Potter
• Great uncle: Trevor Tilsley
• Uncle: Stephen Reid
• First cousin once removed: Ian Latimer