Audrey Roberts Audrey Roberts ( née Potter ) is the mother of Gail Rodwell and owner of Audrey ' s Salon in Coronation Street . She was the third wife and eventual widow of Alf Roberts . Born in 1940 , Audrey had responsibility thrust upon her at a young age , giving birth to Stephen at sixteen and Gail two years later , although they had different fathers , neither of whom took a role in the upbringing of their child . Only Gail was raised by Audrey , as Stephen was adopted by Audrey ' s neighbour Malcolm Reid and his family later moved to Canada . As Gail grew up , she often took a back seat to Audrey ' s social life and developed into an independent and headstrong woman who rarely needed Audrey ' s advice . Audrey moved into 11 Coronation Street in 1985 when she married Alf Roberts , owner of the Corner Shop . Alf was the former Mayor of Weatherfield and was one of the most affluent residents of the Street , but much to Audrey ' s frustration he was satisfied with living cheaply . Audrey pushed Alf into buying a semi in " posh " Grasmere Drive in 1990 and made a living out of spending his hard - earned money . She also enjoyed the perks of Alf ' s position as Councillor and his second term as Mayor , which included prestigious parties and mixing with important people . Audrey was later elected to the Council herself in 1998 . Alf died from a heart attack on New Year ' s Day 1999 . In 1998 , Audrey bought the Coronation Street salon from Fiona Middleton , and she has managed it ever since . For many years , her closest friend in the Street was Alma Halliwell , who died in 2001 . Audrey is still a constant presence in Gail ' s life although she usually disapproves of her choice in men , particularly Richard Hillman who tried to get hold of Audrey ' s assets by convincing everyone she had dementia and plotting to kill her in 2002 . Audrey currently lives at 5 Grasmere Drive in Oakhill . Biography . A single mother , Audrey Potter originally had little interest in her daughter , Gail ' s life . In 1984 , she was engaged to be married to George Hepworth , but it fell through when it transpired he was interested in younger women . She married local councillor Alf Roberts on 23rd December 1985 . Often frustrated by Alf ' s cautious ways , Audrey was still devastated when he suffered a heart attack in 1987 . In 1988 , Malcom Reid , the adoptive father of Audrey ' s son , Stephen , travelled back to the United Kingdom from Canada in an attempt to get Audrey to leave Alf and marry him . Audrey refused , stating that Alf had been good to her and that the problems in her marriage were her fault too . In the 1990s , when Alf enjoyed a second term as Mayor of Weatherfield , social climbing Audrey was thrilled . Over the years , Audrey mellowed from a social climber to a more sympathetic character . Audrey ' s other child , Stephen Reid , lives in Canada . She has never been short of love interests , and has had romantic entanglements with Fred Elliott and undertaker Archie Shuttleworth , among others . Audrey ' s best friend was Alma Halliwell ( played by Amanda Barrie ) . Audrey was devastated when Alma died of cervical cancer in 2001 . Audrey nearly became a victim of her serial killer son - in - law Richard when he discovered she was worth a lot of money , inherited from Alf . He set fire to her house but she was rescued by Steve McDonald . In the October 2006 period , Audrey spoke to her close friend Fred Elliott , who was due to marry Bev Unwin later that week , and told him how she wished he was marrying her , not Bev . This caused Fred to have doubts about his decision but had seemingly decided upon marrying Bev . Audrey then told Ashley that she would not be coming to the wedding , which led to Fred borrowing Bev ' s car to visit her . After a heart - to - heart , Fred prepared to leave Audrey ' s house to get back to the church but collapsed in the hall and died . Audrey , accompanied by the police broke the news to Ashley and Claire at the church . Audrey struck up a relationship with old friend Bill Webster , in an episode in late 2006 . However , on an episode on Christmas Day , Bill ' s wife Maureen turned up , and the secret affair was revealed . Bill returned to Germany but came back to the street early in the year 2007 and rekindled his relationship with Audrey , and he subsequently moved in with her . She currently owns and runs a hair salon and employs Maria Connor , David Platt and Kylie Platt . Previous employees include Natasha Blakeman and Sarah Platt . In the September 2007 period , Audrey took her grandson David into her home after he got kicked out by Gail . Son Stephen returned in the Christmas 2007 period to offer David a job in Italy . He accepted but Audrey found drugs in his drawer at the salon and Stephen withdrew his offer . Jason , Sarah and Bethany decided to go , but Jason left Bethany and Sarah at the train station . Eventually , Audrey grew fed up with David , especially after she learned he had pushed Gail down the stairs in a fit of rage . She was dumbfounded when Gail refused to press charges , and still has a reticent relationship with her grandson . In spring 2008 , Audrey was contacted by Ted Page , Gail ' s biological father who never knew of Gail ' s existence . Audrey met up with him and soon told him he had a daughter . He was surprised , and Audrey was very surprised herself to learn Ted was gay . This led characters such as David ' s girlfriend Tina to jokingly question whether or not Audrey had " turned " Ted gay , which he denied . On 4th August 2008 Audrey was returning from a ' booze cruise ' in France with Bill , Janice and Roger . She ' d been miserable the whole time and felt Bill had ignored her . Bill had been drinking so Audrey insisted she drove . While driving , Audrey began having an argument with Janice , who accused her of being a fortune hunter and caring nothing about Alf or Fred . Audrey was furious , even more so when Bill chose not to defend her , instead saying she ' d been unhappy the whole trip . The argument caused her to car off the road and through a small group of trees crashing into a grey box and Audrey suffered a hurt arm . It was this which caused her to consider ending her relationship with Bill , and she asked him to move out . At the end of 2009 , Audrey fell for Lewis Archer . Background information . Audrey Roberts made her debut in 1979 , and made recurring appearances up until a full return in 1985 . Quotes . " ' Ello love . " ( First line , to Gail Potter ) " Oh , Gail . " ( Quoted on several occasions )