Carla Connor (Alison King) and Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) are set to get the shock of their lives in Coronation Street this week when they find a baby on their doorstep.

Lisa is quick to go after the woman rushing away, and learns that the baby is called Connie and is the daughter of Rob Donovan and prison guard Mandy Waring.

Lisa tells Carla that the grandmother Connie had been staying with needed to go into hospital, and had asked them to take care of Carla’s niece.

Carla is completely horrified by the prospect and point-blank refuses to take responsibility for Rob’s child. But will Lisa be able to convince her otherwise?

For newer viewers of Coronation Street, Connie’s appearance may have come totally out of the blue, but the ITV soap actually laid the groundwork for this storyline a full year ago.

If you didn’t watch the show then, or simply need a refresher on where on earth Connie has come from, we’ve got you covered!

Who are baby Connie’s parents?

Connie is the daughter of Carla’s brother Rob and his prison-guard-turned-lover, Mandy.

Rob was a regular on the cobbles between 2012 and 2014, arriving as Carla’s estranged half-brother who’d spent time in Strangeways after driving a getaway car for an armed robbery.

Carla and Rob’s relationship was strained at first, with Rob having felt that Carla abandoned him and mum Sharon when she married Paul Connor, but they quickly grew close again, with Rob acting particularly protective of his sister.

At the same time, he embarked on a relationship with Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), and the pair were set to marry, until Rob was arrested on the day of their wedding, after Carla reported him to the police to free ex-husband Peter Barlow, who was in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

It was while he was in prison that Rob began an affair with prison guard Mandy – but what did he do to get there?

Why was Rob Donovan sent to prison in 2014?

Rob is serving a lengthy prison term for the murder of Tina McIntyre in 2014.

Tina was one of the Rovers’ barmaids, but also babysat for Simon Barlow, which is how she grew close to Peter, with the pair sharing a secret kiss on his wedding day to Carla in 2013.

For the next few months, they embarked on a sordid affair, with Peter even agreeing to leave Carla and move away with Tina. However, after discovering that Carla had fallen pregnant, he changed his mind, leaving Tina heartbroken.

When she threatened to tell Carla everything, Peter got there first, and Carla was beyond furious at his betrayal.

That same night, Tina was brutally attacked and later died from her injuries, leaving Carla as the number one suspect for her murder.

Eventually, it was Peter who was charged with the crime, and he even spent time behind bars after being found guilty at trial.

Months later, the night before his wedding to Tracy, Rob came clean to Carla and confessed that he had killed Tina. After battling with her morality and loyalty to her brother, Carla ultimately turned Rob in.

He was furious at her betrayal, and has gone to great lengths to get his revenge ever since – including revealing the truth that Johnny Connor was secretly her biological dad.

What happened with Rob and Mandy in 2025?

In 2025, Rob crashed back into Carla’s life when she found herself needing a second kidney transplant. Though she was adamant she wanted nothing to do with her brother, Rob’s son Bobby Crawford went against her wishes and asked Rob to get tested to see if he was a match.

Sensing an opportunity, Rob swore to Carla that he had found religion and wanted to make amends, so after some persuading from her loved ones she accepted his offer of a kidney.

However, it all turned out to be another one of his grand schemes, with Rob planning on running from the hospital. When Lisa caught on to his plan, she made a deal to get his sentence overturned if he’d go through with the transplant.

Once he and Carla woke up from the successful operation, Lisa revealed that she had no intention of going through with her side of the bargain, and furious Rob ended up kidnapping both Carla and Lisa in a bid to get away.

Of course, he needed help to do all of this, and it came in the form of Mandy, the prison guard who’d fallen in love with him.

While holding Carla against her will so that Rob could target Lisa, Mandy admitted that she was pregnant with Rob’s child, which was why she was so keen to help him get away.

However, when Rob found out, he didn’t react the way she’d hoped, and the situation escalated to violence, prompting Mandy to leave him.

Eventually, both Rob and Mandy were caught, but only after he’d taken Carla, Lisa and Tracy hostage at No.1, using a weapon supplied by Mandy herself.

Since then, Rob has been back behind bars and Mandy has been serving her own sentence, hence why daughter Connie has been staying with her grandmother.