Frances "Frannie" Hughes was born to Bob and Jennifer Hughes. Though the character was born in 1973, she was later retroactively born in 1965 to be age 20 in 1985. Frannie's mother, however, died when Frannie was a toddler and she was raised by her father and grandparents. Even though she grew up motherless, Frannie was surrounded by family, which included her Aunt Kim, and grew up happy and well adjusted. Since Frannie was so well adjusted, her family was shocked when she flunked out of Yale after one year. When Frannie returned to Oakdale, her old boyfriend, Kevin Gibson, followed her, hoping to repair their relationship. The relationship was rocky with Kevin because of paternity issues with his ex-girlfriend, Marie, and they broke up. Next, Frannie dated club owner Doug Cummings; they became engaged by Christmas 1985. He turned out to be a psychotic who also worshiped her Aunt Kim and he longed to make a family out of three. He had even built a hidden shrine to Kim. In the aftermath, Doug was killed as he was about to rape an unconscious Frannie; her former boyfriend Kevin helped come to the rescue and died in the fight. Eventually, it was revealed both Doug and Kevin were killed by Doug's love-starved assistant Marsha Talbot and Frannie was cleared, but not before Marsha kidnapped Frannie and was rescued by her next boyfriend Casey Peretti. Despite Casey being hailed as a hero, Frannie realized she wasn't in love with Casey and thought it unkind to him to string him along and they broke up. Soon after, Frannie studied psychology at Oxford. While in England, Frannie saw a woman who closely resembled her. After some sleuthing, she learned the woman, Sabrina, was her own half-sister and cousin! Sabrina was the product of an affair between Frannie's father and aunt and a sibling rivalry developed between them. Frannie had become engaged toSeth Snyder, but when Sabrina tricked Seth into sleeping with her, Frannie was unable to reconcile the relationship and they broke up. Eventually, Frannie forgave Sabrina and they became fairly close. Back in Oakdale and now a psychologist, Frannie dated Dr. Larry McDermott before eventually marrying businessman Darryl Crawford. When Darryl became the prime suspect in the murder of Carolyn Crawford, his first wife, the evidence mounted against him and Frannie became terribly frightened of her new husband. When Darryl was proven innocent, Frannie couldn't forgive herself for doubting him and gave him a divorce. Frannie then left Oakdale to help refugees in Montega. Several years later, Frannie and her sister decided to go to Haiti to aid in the relief efforts following that country's devastating earthquake. Before going, Frannie stopped by Oakdale to celebrate her parents' wedding anniversary.
