“My marriage to Benny was supposedly what the ’80s were all about,” Hannington told The Sun in a recent interview. “Fast cars, fast living, Michael Jackson at the top of the charts, Dallas and Dynasty on the TV. I loved the glamour of that period.”
She went on, “We had a home that was like a palace to whoever came there. Boisie had every room expertly decorated with Victorian and Edwardian gear, art deco, art nouveau. Our flat only cost £27,110 from the council, yet we had about £1 million of gear in there. We never had a floor safe or an alarm or even a panic button — just grilles on all the doors, window locks and a load of weapons hidden around the flat.”
The pair had a son, Benny, in 1987.
Unlike the ending of the ITV series, Boisie actually died in a fire in 1990 after his plan to set their warehouse alight for an insurance payout went wrong.
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Where is Joan Hannington now?
After Boisie’s death, Hannington decided to leave her life of crime in the past — but she didn’t turn herself into the police. Instead, she began a business refurbishing council houses. “The money never brought me any pleasure,” she said. “I decided to go straight. I had more than enough money to last for life.” She published the memoir I Am What I Am in the early 2000s. Hannington now lives on the South coast with her two dogs. Her son, Benny, is now a rapper and Hannington is a grandmother.
Gemma O’Brien/ITV
What happened to Joan Hannington’s daughter Kelly?
In the show, Joan is briefly reunited with Kelly before she returns her to her foster parents. Although the real life Joan was once arrested for stealing a car to visit her daughter, who is actually called Debbie, she never successfully took her from school. Debbie’s whereabouts and her relationship with Joan are unknown.