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Johnny Connor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, played by Richard Hawley. He first appeared on 5 October 2015.

Johnny was introduced as part of an extension to the already-established Connor family, alongside his son Aidan (Shayne Ward), who first appeared in August, and his daughter Kate (Faye Brookes).

Johnny's storylines since arriving have included discovering he is also the biological father of Carla Connor (Alison King), a relationship and later marriage to Jenny Bradley (Sally Ann Matthews), being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, struggling to cope with Aidan's suicide, and kidnapping granddaughter Susie as a result, becoming the landlord of the Rovers Return Inn, an affair with Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) which ended in catastrophic consequences, and his past catching up with him when former partner-in-crime Scott Emberton (Tom Roberts) turned up at the Rovers' B&B. Johnny is currently serving a prison sentence for a hit-and-run that occurred in one of their robberies.

Storylines
Johnny turned up at Underworld in October 2015 demanding money from Aidan, referring to the £100,000 Aidan had invested into Underworld upon his arrival in August, that he’d actually stolen from him. Johnny laid claim to Aidan’s 40% share of the factory, and Carla, deciding that she couldn't trust Aidan split it between 22% for Johnny and 18% for Aidan.

Johnny’s career at Underworld got off to a rocky start. Kate got a job as a packer, but clashed with a jealous Beth Sutherland (Lisa George) over her friendship with her husband, Kirk (Andrew Whyment), and accused her of trying to steal him from her. However, it was revealed that Kate was happily engaged to a woman. Later in October, he nearly ruined a meeting with notoriously difficult client Matthew Singh. Not only did Johnny expect it to be his father, who died three years earlier, but he then kept trying to get him to drink. However, Aidan rescued him and Singh gave them a second chance, where Aidan gave him a much better impression, and shortly after this, he and Aidan clashed with Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell over the amount of cars parked outside his garage preventing customers and deliveries from parking outside the factory, with Kate even getting in a physical fight with Kevin’s daughter Sophie (Brooke Vincent), although the two later became close friends.

In December, Johnny received a visiting order from Carla’s half-brother, Rob Donovan, who was in prison for murdering Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) the year before. Rob knew that Johnny had a one-night stand with their mother, Sharon in the 1970s, which resulted in the birth of Carla, and demanded £10,000 for his silence towards Carla, Aidan and Kate. Despite this, Johnny told Carla anyway, and she didn't take the news very well. She told Aidan and Kate in the new year. Kate struggled to get her head around it while Aidan was furious and ordered him to leave. When Johnny turned up at Underworld later to try to explain things, Aidan punched him.

Aidan took it especially hard as his and Kate’s mum, Louisa was killed when Sharon told her in 1993. They later made up.

Johnny later employed Jenny Bradley (Sally Ann Matthews), as a cleaner and shortly afterwards, started getting close to her. In May 2016, he took her to Blackpool so she could lay her father Alan, who was infamously killed by a tram there in 1989, to rest. At the same time, Kevin was there with his friend Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) and son Jack Webster, who Jenny had kidnapped the year before, and when she saw him running away from them towards an oncoming tram, she went after him and snatched him to stop him being ran over. The Websters were initially hostile as Jenny had kidnapped Jack the year before, but were thankful afterwards.

Later in the month, Johnny learned that Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) was blackmailing Carla to sell up and leave along with her fiancé Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), after learning that she'd had a one-night stand with her boyfriend Robert Preston (Tristan Gemmill). On the day of their wedding, Johnny locked Tracy in a cupboard at the factory to try and stop her from revealing all at the wedding, although she broke out and did it anyway. Nick was furious to learn about Carla's infidelity, but decided to marry her anyway. However, he changed his mind at the reception after suspecting that the one-night stand was the only reason she proposed, and realizing that he'd never be able he trust her, he walked out and annulled the marriage. The night ended in disaster further when Carla got in her car and drove at Tracy, planning to run her over, but backed out at the last minute, accidentally hitting Cathy Matthews (Melanie Hill) instead. The incident also caused Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) to crash into Gail Rodwell's (Helen Worth) granny-annex at no. 8, causing problems for the Platts as it revealed the body of Callum Logan (Sean Ward), who Kylie (Paula Lane) had murdered in September 2015, and had been buried under the annex ever since. Carla decided to leave the next day, and Johnny drove her to Devon, but not before she said goodbye to her close friend Roy Cropper (David Neilson).

Johnny planned to retire at the end of the year and leave Aidan in sole control of the factory. However, after discovering his affair with Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie), he changed his mind. At the same time, he asked Jenny to move into Victoria Court with him, an offer she happily accepted. She was due to make the move in early January, but on the day, he kicked her out after she suspected Aidan of having an affair with Alya Nazir (Sair Khan), and told his girlfriend Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley), accusing her of trying to split them up. He later forgave her and she moved, and he even asked her to marry him, which she accepted.

In June 2017, Johnny was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and not wanting Jenny to be forced into looking after him, he called off the engagement, claiming that he didn't love her anymore. Jenny was furious and heartbroken, but they reconciled when she learnt the truth. The couple got married on the 20th September at Weather General Hospital, allowing Jenny's former stepmother Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) to present, having recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Aidan was due to marry Eva on the same day, but the wedding didn't go ahead, as Maria exposed the fake pregnancy act Eva had been putting on for the Connors, as part of her revenge scheme for her and Aidan's affair. Later when Johnny and Jenny returned to the factory, they discovered everything, including the roof, stolen, which was the final part of the revenge scheme. Johnny blamed Aidan and disowned him. In November, he refused to help him get it running again, instead making plans to retire in Spain, which prompted an angry Aidan to punch his father in disgrace.

By May 2018, the factory was up and running again, with Aidan finally in sole control, as Carla had recently returned to the area and her sold her share to him to say thanks for donating his kidney to her. The morning after the party to celebrate his retirement in Spain, Aidan failed to turn up to open the factory, so Johnny went to the flat to get him, but instead, he found his suicide note, which led him to find his son lying on the bathroom floor, having taken his life after the party. Johnny took his son's death very hard over the way he'd treated him over the last few months, and started lashing out at those around him, especially his wife Jenny, who he felt never really cared for him.

Johnny was further angered to learn that Eva had given away her and Aidan's baby Susie to Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) and an unknowing Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne), and began to fight for custody. Johnny later kidnapped her and planned to go on the run, but Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) convinced him to do the right thing and return her to Eva, who left the street with her shortly afterwards. Johnny had previously allowed Liz to support him as a result of starting to resent his wife, and had even slept with her in June.

Johnny and Jenny later bought the Rovers Return Inn, but this new chapter got off to bad start as well, as in October, Jenny learnt about the affair and although she claimed to forgive Johnny, she began spitefully obsessing over Liz, as well as starting to drink heavily and begin having accidents that looked like Johnny had attacked her, resulting in him being branded a wife-beater by Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell). This reached a climax on Christmas Day when Jenny got in Johnny's car while drunk and drove away, accidentally running over Liz in the process and hospitalizing her. When she woke up, she suspected Johnny straight away after seeing the dent on his car, and although Johnny confessed to the incident, Liz realized it was actually Jenny after she pleaded her not to press charges against him. Both were arrested and charged, with a court date set for February 2019, however, Liz regretted pressing charges by then and decided not to turn up at court and instead went abroad, pretending she got the dates mixed up. As a result, the case was dropped and Johnny and Jenny decided to put the past year behind them and patch up their marriage.

In March, happier times laid ahead when Kate was due to marry Rana Habeeb (Bhavna Limbachia), but this turned into heartbreak when the roof of Underworld collapsed while Rana was inside collecting her dress. Kate managed to get inside to be with her, but she tragically died after exchanging their vows. To make matters worse, Carla was blamed as she'd ignored advice to have the factory closed and have the roof properly repaired, and her mental health rapidly deteriorated as she struggled with the guilt of Rana's death. This included going missing for a few weeks, and suffering a psychotic breakdown at the end of May, during which she saw a hallucination of Rana which blamed her death, and thought Peter was Aidan when he tried to talk her off the fire exit. Carla was sectioned after her breakdown and diagnosed with psychosis, and at the same time, it was revealed that the roof only collapsed because Gary Windass (Mikey North) sabotaged it to try and get more work.

After struggling to get over Rana's death, Kate left the street in September 2019 to go travelling.

In April 2020, Johnny took off to France with Jenny to see Eva and Susie, with Johnny remaining there until August. The reason he ran off was down to something to do with Scott Emberton (Tom Roberts), the new Rovers' B&B guest. It was later revealed that Scott knew Johnny from his youth, and they used to commit crimes together. Many years earlier, Johnny ran over a security guard during one of their robberies and left him permanently paralyzed, and Scott took responsibility and went to prison for him. In October, Scott decided to rob Viaduct Bistro after taking a disliking to owner Ray Crosby (Mark Frost). He coerced Johnny into helping him, but he instead called the police on him, causing Scott to shoot police officer Craig Tinker. After informing Jenny of his past and the robbery on the Bistro, Scott took the pair hostage, intent on killing them as well as himself, but he later gave himself up to the police. Johnny was however consumed by guilt of the other robbery and after learning that Grant Newsome, the security guard had descended into alcoholism as a result of his injuries, eventually killing him, he confessed to his mother Margaret that he was responsible for Grant's injuries and not Scott. Margaret was furious and despite pleas from Jenny that he'd changed, she informed the police. Johnny was later arrested and charged.

In January 2021, Johnny was sentenced to 8 months in prison for the robbery, just as his eyesight started to worsen because of his MS. A month later, he began suffering from hallucinations, starting with cats, and then Aidan. After he began seeing Aidan, Johnny stopped taking his medication in order to continue seeing him, until Jenny managed to get through to him after finding out. In March, he was beaten up by his cellmate, after suspecting him of dealing drugs.

Creation
In 2015, then-producer Stuart Blackburn announced the creation of 3 new characters to extend the well-established Connor family. This included Aidan, a distant relative of Carla and Michelle, along with Johnny and Kate, his father and younger sister. X Factor winner Shayne Ward's casting as Aidan was announced on 12 May, while Richard Hawley's casting as Johnny and Faye Brookes' casting as Kate were both announced on 20 July. Ward made his debut on 21 August, while Hawley and Brookes made their debuts on 5 October.

Development
In December 2015, Marc Baylis reprised the role as Rob Donovan as part of a small storyline revealing that Johnny was Carla's biological father following a one-night stand with their mother, Sharon. This revelation was teased as far back as August, when Stuart Blackburn told Digital Spy that there would be a real shocker for Carla after she receives news from one of the new Connors. Blackburn commented: "The Connors are looking great. I think in Aidan, Johnny and Kate, we've really hit gold. One of those characters will deliver a bit of news to Carla that will change her sense of self and perception forever. It's going to be a real shocker."

Johnny got his first main storyline in June 2017 when the character was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In order to portray the storyline as accurately as possible, Hawley worked closely with the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain to learn about the condition and what it can cause.

Another one of Johnny's significant storylines came in 2018, when he had to come to terms with the suicide of his son Aidan and went on a downward spiral because of it. The storyline was a huge success for the show, winning 3 awards at the 2019 British Soap Awards. This storyline was revisited in February 2021 when Johnny began hallucinating his son while serving a prison sentence.