Jean Hope - Character's Background

Character's Background

Jean was the first wife of Bob Hope. They had two children, Dawn and Jamie. Bob and Jean divorced after he walked out and Jean raised her children alone in Spain.

They were still living in Spain when Dawn met and fell in love with Terry Woods, a friend of her father’s when Terry stayed at the hotel Jean owned. She returned to Emmerdale with Terry. Jean followed her back and they got married – much to her parents' disapproval. The couple seemed madly in love and were overjoyed when they had baby T.J.. However, the marriage didn’t last and Jean worried about Dawn when she found herself bringing T.J. up alone and with little money.

When she discovered that Bob was remarrying his ex-wife Viv Windsor, Jean decided to attend the ceremony in the place of her son, Jamie. Little did the congregation know that Jean had a masterplan – to win Bob back for herself. She kidnapped Bob on the morning of the wedding. He escaped and remarried Viv and Jean got drunk in shame – and woke up in bed with her ex-son-in-law, Terry.

Dawn was horrified by her mother's action but Jean promised it would never happen again. She left Emmerdale, hoping things would improve for Dawn – but they got worse. Dawn found herself in a difficult position when she was reported for benefit fraud by ex-boyfriend and stepbrother Scott Windsor. Jean rushed to her daughter’s side and decided to move in with Dawn to help her with her financial situation, evicting Dawn's lodger Jo Stiles, who was slow in paying her rent, in the process. But despite her best efforts, Dawn was imprisoned and the Hopes went into crisis mode. As they shared responsibility of T.J. while Dawn was in jail, Jean and Terry got close again and realised that they had fallen in love.

In an effort to keep the romance secret, Jean started dating her boss Tom King and leading him to believe there was some hope for them as a couple. Tom discovered Jean – who was working as his PA – had been sleeping with Terry when they were caught cavorting in a layby by the police, arrested and put in the cells for the night.

The incident meant everybody in the village knew what had been going on and, in disgust, Dawn ordered them to end the relationship and went on holiday to get away from them. But Jean and Terry were in love and defied Dawn. When she arrived back, she announced she had decided to take T.J. and go and live in Cornwall, breaking Terry’s heart.

He decided to fight for custody of his son, but Jean implored him not to hurt her daughter and between them they came to an amicable arrangement.

However tragedy was to strike when Dawn died from internal injuries after being injured in the King's River Showhome when it collapsed. Jean and Terry continued their relationship after Dawn's death but Jean soon tired of the relationship and life in the village and was sick of all the controversy that had ensued over Dawn's death. Jean left the village for Morocco in December 2006, taking T.J. with her, after receiving £300,000 in compensation from Tom King for Dawn's death. Terry followed her to the airport but it was too late and Jean's flight had left.