Francine Osborne

Francine "Frankie" Osborne is the daughter of Suzanne Ashworth and Darren Osborne and twin brother of JJ Osborne.
Born in Hollyoaks, Frankie grew up in Spain after her mother accepted a £200,000 offer from Cindy Cunningham to move away. Returning to the village in January 2024, Frankie was harbouring a harrowing secret as JJ was sexually abusing her. As Frankie struggled in silence, JJ was seen as the golden boy. A frightened Frankie hurt JJ one evening whilst they were alone together, setting back her brother's near-future goals of becoming a football sensation and resulting in her family wrongly perceiving her as jealous and problematic.
With a firm passion for dance, Frankie was encouraged by Nancy Osborne to join a dance squad. She enjoyed using dance as an outlet for her ordeal and was elated when she received an invitation to audition for the Performing School of Arts and Dance. She got in and won round the adults, allowing her to move to London and get away from her abuser. However, after witnessing JJ get closer to Lexi Roscoe, she had a change of heart and stayed put.
In August 2024, Frankie found the courage to tell Darren about what JJ had been putting her through. Darren promised to protect his daughter and turned against his son, but Suzanne sided with JJ, causing a rift among the family. Soon finding the courage to confront her mother and not be silenced any longer, Frankie stood up to her mother and detailed to her the shocking actions JJ had put her through. Suzanne ultimately realised that her daughter was truthful and, after sustaining injuries from a motorbike crashing into the house they were talking in, reassured her daughter with her dying breath that she believed her.
She has since gained employment at Price Slice and had to come to terms with JJ's battle with leukaemia.
== Biography ==
=== 2011: Birth and Move to Spain ===
Following an affair in 2010, Darren first learned of Suzanne's pregnancy following her sudden return from Spain in January 2011. A heavily pregnant Suzanne ended up going into labour during the grand opening of Look Sharpe and gave birth in the spa, assisted by Darren as his fiancée Nancy Hayton watched on. Eventually agreeing to give the twins the surname 'Osborne', not wanting to use her marital name 'Ashworth' nor maiden name 'Dick', Suzanne intended to name the twins Cheryl and Simon after The X Factor judges.
Darren registered the births, but took a disliking to the names Suzanne had chosen. The pair eventually agreed to name them Jack and Francine, after Darren's father Jack and stepmother Frankie. However, Darren's jealous ex-girlfriend, newly widowed millionaire Cindy Cunningham, offered Suzanne £100,000 to leave the village with the twins. Suzanne initially rejected but realised Darren wasn't ready to be a father and returned to Spain when Cindy (now wanting to hurt Darren) agreed to her counter-offer of £200,000.
Suzanne returned to the village in December 2012 for her son Rhys Ashworth's funeral. She asked Darren to visit to twins but Nancy - now Darren's wife - declined on his behalf. Darren later visited the twins and Suzanne in Spain in February 2014.
=== 2024-: Return and Abuse ===
Francine - now going by "Frankie" - returned to Hollyoaks with Jack (now JJ) and their half-sister Hannah Ashworth in January 2024. The pair were enrolled at Hollyoaks High School and caused trouble at the memorial for year 12 student Ella Richardson (who had been fatally run over a few days earlier), where Hannah introduced them to a shocked Darren. As Darren got to know his twins, he found Frankie's behaviour difficult. Frankie slapped Nancy and then accused Jack of inappropriately touching her after he placed his hand on her lower back whilst they were dancing together to his late wife Frankie's favourite Cher records. Jack was arrested and Suzanne confided in Darren that her ex-boyfriend, Paul, had also had an accusation made against him, though nothing was proven.
Frankie befriended Lucas Hay at the youth club, much to JJ's disgust. Lucas, who had been struggling with his own sexuality after being brainwashed by conversion therapist Carter Shepherd and had turned to self-harming, grew close to Frankie, who then discovered his wounds. Lucas played down his injuries to football but upset Frankie when he cancelled an evening out in town with her for Carter. Frankie stayed with Lucas after an explosive argument with Darren over Jack staying at 17 Basswood Road in March 2024. When she returned home, JJ inappropriately touched Frankie on her lower back and it was clear this wasn't the first time it had happened. Following the incident, Frankie drank herself into unconsciousness and was rushed to hospital. Upon returning home, JJ prevented Frankie from confiding in Lucas about her ordeal.
Using an undercover term to conceal his non-consensual actions, JJ asked Frankie whilst they were alone if she wanted to play "school discos" with him. A panicked Frankie slammed JJ's foot in a door, tearing a ligament and impeding his nearby future goal of becoming a football sensation. When Suzanne then innocently used the trigger words "school discos", she was shoved to the ground by Frankie, who was then arrested by Zoe Anderson. Suzanne refused to press charges against her daughter and so a social worker was sent to see Frankie. Frankie almost confided in the social worker about her abuse but didn't when she saw JJ. Instead, Suzanne gave Frankie a journal (at the suggestion of the social worker) so that she could record her feelings. Frankie wrote down that JJ scares her but JJ read what she wrote and was inappropriate to her once more, so she turned to self-harm to cope. JJ soon found out about the self-harm and Frankie told him that she did it because of him, so he agreed to stop pressuring her into playing "school discos".
After watching Frankie dance, Nancy encouraged her to join a dance squad. Frankie did and started to lighten up, but her happiness was short-lived as JJ grew fed up of waiting for his injured foot to heal, not knowing even then if he'd ever be able to play football professionally. Accusing his twin of ruining everything for him, JJ raped Frankie behind the rotunda at the park. Frankie skipped school the next day to get the morning after pill, supported by Lucas, who was unaware of what had happened. When she didn't return to school, JJ used Frankie's self-harm to explain her absence. Suzanne and Darren pressed Frankie on her self-harm and she blamed her actions on Darren abandoning her as a child. The next day, Darren found Frankie's emergency contraception and questioned her. Noticing Frankie's distress when asked if she had consensual sex, Darren jumped to the wrong assumption that Lucas had pressured his daughter into sex and confronted him in the village. Lucas didn't appreciate Frankie lying about them but was threatened into having his self-harm exposed if he didn't go along with her version of events.
Having started to suffer night terrors, Frankie and Darren attended a counselling session together. Nancy agreed to sleep in Frankie's bedroom with her but Morgan Osborne then fell ill and Nancy only agreed to sleep in Frankie's bedroom if Morgan slept through the night. When Morgan wouldn't stop crying, Frankie overdosed her on her medication in the hopes of sending her to sleep, but Morgan vomited and was rushed to hospital. JJ found out that Frankie administered the medication and covered for her, accusing Oscar Osborne of overdosing Frankie instead.
In May 2024, Maxine Minniver introduced Frankie to the Performing School of Arts and Dance and Frankie secretly applied after being sexually assaulted by JJ again. She received an invitation to audition in Manchester and told her step-brother, Charlie Dean, who helped her prepare. JJ found out about the audition and begged Frankie not to leave before assaulting her once more. On the day of Frankie's audition, JJ found out where she would be performing and followed her to the audition to watch her, shocking Frankie. Initially supportive of his sibling, JJ told Suzanne, Darren and Nancy about Frankie's application when he found out that she'd be moving to London if she got in. Frankie lacked support from the adults as they didn't think she was ready to leave home.
Whilst Frankie was using her tablet to record herself dancing, JJ disturbed her and grabbed her. Frankie called JJ a freak and he hit her over the head with one of his golden football boots that he'd been gifted from Jack earlier in the year. As JJ hid, Frankie stumbled up the stairs but collapsed at the top and fell down them as a drunken Nancy (who had been celebrating her birthday) watched on. When Frankie came round at the hospital she remembered what happened, prompting JJ to promise to stop hurting her if she lied to the police and told them that Nancy pushed her down the stairs. Frankie went along with the lie and Nancy was no longer allowed to stay at 17 Basswood Road due to the nature of the accusation.
Just over a month later, Oscar Osborne discovered that JJ had attacked Frankie when he saw the video on Frankie's tablet whilst using it to complete his homework. Oscar visited Frankie at the hospital and told her what he saw, but Frankie told him that she frightened to JJ and he should be too. Oscar's behaviour noticeably changed following the conversation and Frankie considered changing her statement to D.S. Peel but backed out after another promise from JJ. Oscar found the football boots that JJ used in the bin and decided to hide them, but they were later found and worn by Lexi Roscoe, which JJ saw. The boots were disposed of in the village pond.
Frankie was elated when she found out that she'd got into the dance school and, having won round the adults, looked forward to a new life in London away from her abuser. Meanwhile, JJ had been signed up for a summer football tour and was thrilled, but later collapsed in front of Frankie suffered a seizure. Frankie chose to walk away from her brother instead of dialling 999. Darren found JJ and he was rushed to hospital, where he was told he'd make a full recovery. Remembering that Frankie left him whilst he seized, JJ threatened to tell everyone that she left him to die. Frankie proclaimed that she hated JJ and wanted him to die, an outburst which was witnessed by Darren, who then decided that Frankie should spend the summer in London with Hannah. Frankie was delighted to be sent to London early but had a sudden change of heart and stayed put when she witnessed JJ getting close to Lexi.
Nancy's plea hearing arrived in August 2024 and Darren was concerned when, whilst retelling her version of events from the night she fell down the stairs, Frankie mentioned that she "slipped". Frankie maintained that she was pushed, but Darren suspected she was covering for someone. Later that week, JJ signed a new football contract and suggested to Frankie in the changing rooms that they "celebrate". A terrified Frankie hid in the toilets and signed to Oscar for help through an open window. Darren came to Frankie's rescue but she pretended that she was locked in the toilet. However, when Frankie later got a moment alone with Darren at The Dog in the Pond, Frankie bravely told her father that she was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of JJ. Darren believed Frankie and promised to protect her, whereas Suzanne was disbelieving at the accusation made against her son and accused of Frankie of going too far. Desperate to get her mother to believe her, Frankie showed Suzanne excerpts from a diary on her phone and recalled how she tried to tell her that JJ was abusing her when she was nine years-old. Suzanne stole Frankie's phone and binned it at the car park of The Dog, still firmly on her son's side. Frankie quickly realised her phone had gone missing and accused Suzanne of stealing it.
Frankie faced a fresh setback in September 2024 when she was deferred from the dance school until January as her accommodation had not finished being built. Darren promised to stick by his daughter's side until the day she could go. Frankie didn't think she could face going back to school with JJ so Darren tried to get JJ to leave, but was unsuccessful. Nancy learned the truth from Darren about what Frankie was going through and, as head of safeguarding at the school, had a duty to report what she'd been told. JJ was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault but in his interview he lied and claimed that Frankie consented. Frankie was livid at JJ's lies but was supported by Pearl Anderson, whose own sister had gone through the same ordeal.
Finding the courage to confront her mother once again, Frankie insisted she would not be silenced anymore and detailed to Suzanne the horrors she experienced as a child. Jack added pressure when he challenged Suzanne over her denial and Suzanne broke down as she knew something was wrong back when Frankie was younger. A devastating motorbike crash just moments after their conversation resulted in Suzanne's death, but with her final dying breath Suzanne reassured her daughter that she believed her.
==Appendices==
===Residences===
Address 	Duration
5 Oakdale Drive, Flat 1	2011 to 17th March 2011
Spain 	17th March 2011 to 18th January 2024
17 Basswood Road 	Since 18th January 2024
===Employment History===
Job 	Duration
Hollyoaks High School student	18th January 2024 - 2025
Price Slice employee 	2025 - Present
== Notes ==
*Francine was aged up by two years in 2024, being referenced as 15 in April 2024.
*Due to the end of summer time jump in 2024, the series now focuses on the autumn of 2025, making Francine now 16 years old.
== Background Information ==
*Isabelle Smith's casting as Frankie was announced in November 2023, alongside the casting of Ryan Mulvey as JJ Osborne, and Suzanne Hall reprising the role of Suzanne Ashworth.
==Introduction Sequence==
*2024: Frankie dances with Peri Lomax and Vicky Grant inside The Dog in the Pond and is later seen dancing with Darren and Nancy Osborne in the same venue.
== Quotes ==
== See Also ==
*List of appearances
*Ashworth family
*Osborne family
*Roscoe family
==Gallery==
Frankie Osborne promo.png‎|Promotional image
Category:Hollyoaks characters
Category:2011 debuts
Category:2011 departures
Category:2024 returns
Category:Current characters
Category:2011 births
Category:2009 births
Category:Ashworth family
Category:Osborne family
Category:Roscoe family
Category:Twins
Category:Students
Category:Sexual abuse victims
Category:Residents of 5 Oakdale Drive, Flat 1
Category:Residents of 17 Basswood Road