Eileen Phelan Eileen Hazel Phelan ( née Grimshaw ) is a Street Cars employee , a Coronation Street resident since 2001 , mother of Jason and Todd Grimshaw , older half - sister of Julie Carp , and the second wife of Patrick Phelan . Biography . Eileen had a happy upbringing until the age of fourteen or fifteen , when her parents began fighting . Eileen had no idea of the cause of the conflict , and when they divorced , she blamed her mother . Their relationship remained strained until her mother ' s death in 1992 . Eileen had Jason by Tony Stewart and Todd by a man named Duncan and raised them on her own . Eileen first appeared in 2000 when she was picked up by Vikram Desai to take her to a job interview at a chip shop , an interview she was being sent to by the job centre which she wasn ' t keen on getting . During the ride Eileen impressed Vikram with her excellent local knowledge ( having worked for another taxi company for years ) and he gave her the job on the switchboard at the newly - opened Street Cars . She took to the job quickly , impressing Vikram ' s partner Steve McDonald and she soon became a fixture of the company . A feisty single mum , she came from a family of eight . She later moved into 11 Coronation Street as a tenant of Steve with her two sons , Jason and Todd . In the early days she didn ' t approve of Jason ' s aspirations to be a runner . Some years later , her son Todd came out as being gay . She now shares her house with her son Jason and long - term lodger Sean Tully . Eileen has had many failed relationships . Her promising relationship with Dennis Stringer failed when he left her for Janice Battersby . Following Jason and Candice Stowe placing her ad in a lonely hearts column she dated cleaner Harry Flagg for a while but they eventually decided to remain friends . She dated Ernest Bishop ' s killer , Ed Jackson , despite the disapproval of most of the Street . It was during this relationship with Ed , a Christian , that Eileen came to the conclusion that she was agnostic . In 2007 she met Pat Stanaway who she assumed was married and had an " affair " . Pat in fact turned out to be single but was dating six other women at the time . She dated takeaway owner Jerry Morton , but dumped him in 2008 after he proved to take more of an interest in his children than her . Eileen ' s sworn enemy was Gail Platt and their infamous feud peaked in several brawls in the Street . The pair constantly sparred whenever they crossed paths in Weatherfield . The feud began when her son Todd moved in with Gail ' s daughter Sarah , Eileen believed that she was holding her son back . Todd ' s revelation that he was gay caused a cat fight in the Street . The two women were at loggerheads again when they both became attracted to reflexologist Phil Nail when he started working at the Rosamund Street Medical Centre , Gail was the one who eventually won his affections . Their rivalry resulted in Eileen being the prime suspect when Gail was stalked by someone claiming to be serial killer Richard Hillman in 2006 . Eileen was eventually revealed to be an innocent party , with Gail ' s son David being revealed as the hoaxer . Gail and Eileen became related after Sarah and Jason married in October 2007 . On Christmas Day 2006 , Eileen got a surprise when a woman called Emma dropped a baby off , claiming Jason was the father . Eileen took responsibility to look after the baby , whom they called Holly because she arrived during the Christmas period . Jason initially didn ' t approve of the child and tried to convince Eileen that the baby wasn ' t his , but Eileen disagreed and Jason eventually called Social Services in desperation . He later admitted to calling them , but admitted he had grown fond of baby Holly . However , Eileen was due for yet another shock on 9th April 2007 when Holly ' s mother returned , claiming that Jason ' s deceased employer , Charlie Stubbs , was in fact the father , after she found his picture in the paper . She claimed that when she met Charlie , he told her that his name was Jason Grimshaw . Holly ' s mother , Emma , asked Eileen for the baby back but Eileen refused and threw her out of the house , threatening to call the police . Social Services became involved in the situation , and a desperate Eileen decided the best thing to do was to " run away " with the baby . Eileen ' s arch - nemesis Gail Platt discovered her plan and talked to her , finally getting her to realise that the best place for Holly was with her real mother . A tearful Eileen handed Holly over on 25th April 2007 . On 12th December 2008 , her father Colin Grimshaw arrived and met Peter Barlow in the bookies . As he placed a bet Eileen phoned him , he lied to her and told her that he was still on the bus to Weatherfield . He was known for his betting and drinking , and this led to a row between the pair when they met . Colin settled into the Street , and Eileen tried to accept his new love with Rita Sullivan . At the same time , she coincidentally reunited with old friend Paula Carp through Paula ' s daughter Julie . Eileen hadn ' t seen Paula since her friend fell pregnant at the age of 14 and left the area . Paula had told her that the father was a teacher , but to Eileen ' s horror , at Colin ' s 70th birthday party , Paula admitted that Colin was Julie ' s father , and that they ' d had a brief relationship . Initially Eileen blamed Paula for seducing her father , but soon raged at him for taking advantage of a child and for turning her against her mother . Eileen shut Colin out of her life , but after he suffered a stroke , Eileen reluctantly allowed him to stay in her home . The police stopped by after Paula reported him , and he died of a second stroke . In spite of Eileen ' s revulsion and anger towards her father , she gave the eulogy at his funeral . Eileen began dating children ' s entertainer Jesse Chadwick . In spite of Eileen not getting along with his family , her relationship with Jesse progressed enough to where she let him move into her home , and she put up with his annoying parrot . However , Eileen was not happy when Jesse began using her newfound sister Julie as his sidekick . He agreed to fire Julie , but continued working with her in secret . Eileen got Eddie Windass to spy on their activities and soon forced Jesse to fire Julie for real . Eileen and Jesse dated for a few more months , but when he balked at Jason and his fiancée Tina McIntyre moving back into the spare room where he kept his party supplies , Eileen responded by moving them outside . Eileen was then delighted to learn that when Jesse bet on the horses to take his mind off their conflict , he won thousands of pounds . She was even more delighted when she found travel brochures for Egypt . . . only to learn that he was planning to take his parents on the trip . Eileen dumped him . Quotes . " I ' m not most people " ( First line ) " Oh , shut up . Just shut up , shut up , shut up , shut up , shut up ! " ( To John the parrot ) " You treat this house like a hotel ! " ( To sons Jason and Todd , along with lodgers Sean Tully , Marcus Dent and Eva Price )