Ellen White is Lawrence White's late wife and mother of Chrissie and Rebecca White. Ellen and Lawrence had an open marriage, in which Lawrence gave Ellen permission to sleep with other men. She had always been discreet with her affairs, until in 1980 when she became infatuated with one of Lawrence's colleagues, John Richards. Lawrence feared that he would lose Ellen forever. John soon got bored of her and went to America, leaving her heartbroken.