Deborah "Debs/Debbie" Rafferty is the mother of Kelly Jo Rafferty, the sister of Nicky Walters and the aunt of Preston and Tonya Walters.
Series 11[]
Debs is first seen in Series 11 Episode 3 when Preston calls round at her and her mother Barbara's house asking if he, Nicky and Tonya can stay with them after they are forcibly evicted from their own home. Debs and Nicky had a falling-out the last time they saw each other, and Debs refuses to help Nicky's family until Nicky apologises for her harsh words.
In Series 11 Episode 4, Debs turns up at the school after Kelly Jo has a major meltdown, and attends a meeting with Kim Campbell and Amy Spratt about Kelly Jo's behaviour, learning that she may have ADHD.
Series 12[]
In Series 12 Episode 2, Debs turns up late and drunk at Kelly Jo's ADHD diagnosis meeting, and during the meeting, Nicky reveals that Debs has been illegally medicating Kelly Jo with unprescribed diazepam. Later on, Debs comes into the kitchen where Nicky is working, and they get into an argument, during which it is revealed that when Debs was still in primary school, Nicky moved in with their father, leaving Debs with their then-alcoholic mother Barbara, and that Debs has always hated Nicky for that. Debs and Nicky then physically fight after Debs slaps Nicky, with Donte Charles also receiving an elbow to the face when he wades in trying to break up the fight. Debs is then banned from the school, and later arrested for drugging Kelly Jo, and forced to move out while social services investigate.
Debs returns in Series 12 Episode 6 when Nicky calls her to the school to ask her for money due to her troubles with loan shark Vinny McCullen. Debs refuses, and reveals that she is coming back home after signing a child protection plan, before storming off, though she later comes back apologetic and offering Nicky money, but Nicky turns it down saying she was sorted, as she had just stolen some computers from the school to pay Vinny off.
Series 13[]
In Series 13, Kelly Jo takes an interest in her heritage, and Debs tells her that her father, David, was Jamaican, though it is not until after the school have organised a Jamaican culture day for Kelly Jo that Debs admits that she doesn't actually know where David was from. Kelly Jo later tells Debs that she is pregnant. Debs is furious with Kelly Jo's boyfriend Dean for getting her pregnant and running away while Kelly Jo was taking a pregnancy test, and confronts him at the school gates before Kelly Jo sends her home. Debs encourages Kelly Jo to have an abortion, which Kelly Jo agrees with, and Debs goes with her to the hospital.
Series 14[]
In Series 14, Debs is devastated when Barbara suddenly dies. Nicky and Debs repeatedly fight over funeral arrangements. Debs wants to give Barbara the funeral she wanted, but Nicky feels they cannot afford it all. Matters are made worse when Debs finds a box containing a large quantity of cash of Barbara's, and gives Nicky a couple of notes, keeping the rest.
Debs tries to make up with Nicky by doing a couple of shifts in the school canteen, but the pair are soon fighting again. Debs is given a permanent job as a cleaner at the school canteen, and their fighting continues when Debs deliberately tells Donte the truth about Nicky and Steve, leading Donte to mistrust Nicky for withholding this information, but Nicky wins Donte over by proposing to him, and they get engaged.
Eventually, sick of her mother and aunt fighting, Kelly Jo steals all of the money and secretly distributes it between herself, Tonya and Preston after tricking Debs and Nicky into thinking she had emptied the boxful of cash out of a top floor classroom window, which had actually been toy money from the pound shop.
In Episode 4, Debs teases Noel McManus when she realises that he has a crush on someone. Kelly Jo worries that she herself is the object of his crush, feelings that she definitely does not reciprocate, but she is furious with Noel when she later realises at the Battle of the Bands event that it is Debs whom Noel fancies, as he constantly looks at her while he performs.
In Episode 6, Noel tries to impress Debs by making her a pizza with all her favourite toppings, but is disappointed when he walks in on her flirting with new caretaker Jamie Haines.
Series 15[]
Quotes[]
- "Yeah. Shouldn't you be at school?" (first line)
- "Oi! You little drama queen! What are you playing at? Do you understand the damage you've done? What if they ask me to fork out for it?!"
- "Oh. Well, that's good, I suppose. I might get some help now, then. Cos it took you guys forever to figure that one out."
- "She was an alkie! She didn't get on with anyone! And you left me with her! I was still in primary school, and you-you left me! And I hate you for it! Cos you-you ruined my life!"
- "A couple of grand? Are you out of your mind?! Well, look, I'm coming home anyway. So you don't have to worry about paying for any of the bills any more. I've gone through the proper channels, I've signed a child protection plan and everything. You're gonna have to go, Nicky. They call me unfit! You wanna grab yourself a mirror, love."
- "D'you know, when you have kids, you just want them to grow up and be better versions of you. Well, there you are."
- Debs: "D'you know what, I've heard it all now, Nicky! Too tight to pay for your own mum's funeral!"
- Nicky: "Oh, shut up, Deborah."
- Debs: "Right, if you've not decided by the time you're here, you can get what you're given! Next! A 'thank you' would be nice."
- Kelly Jo: "What's this?"
- Debs: "Just uh, saving your Auntie Nicky's backside, aren't I? What d'you think?"
- "Well, if she was doing the decent thing, then she'd have told you all about her and Ste."
- "Is he fit? Looks like Donte's got competition."
- "I'm really gutted, cos my bum was literally just getting like an influencer's."
- Debs: "Right, Noel, listen, you can't get rid of Preston, cos he's the eye candy. It runs in the family."
- Noel: "Um, no. I think Stace's right, yeah? He's a little bit too emo. Yeah? 'Let's write a song about issues'. It's not rock and roll, is it?"
- Debs: "Noel...you go to your nan's every night and watch Pointless."