Daniel Osbourne Daniel Albert Osbourne is the son of Denise Osbourne and Ken Barlow and the couple ' s only surviving twin , the other twin having died in the fifth month of pregnancy . He faced an uncertain future after his mother deserted him in 1996 , running away with her lover , Brian Dunkley , and leaving Ken holding the baby . Some months later , Denise and Brian returned and gained custody of Daniel , taking him to live with them in Scotland . As time passed , Ken lost touch with his son . Ken visited Daniel for a few weeks in 2007 but Daniel struggled to bond with his father . Despite this , Ken occasionally kept in contact over the next few years . In 2016 , Daniel returned to Weatherfield to visit his father who had recently suffered a stroke . Biography . 1995 - 2016 : Early life . Ken Barlow started a relationship with Denise Osbourne in 1994 when he had temporarily split from his wife Deirdre . Soon afterwards , Denise became pregnant but miscarried in the fifth month . It was then discovered that she had actually been carrying twins and the other twin had survived . Ken proposed to Denise , as he didn ' t want to be a father to an illegitimate child , but Denise turned him down and later broke up with him . Daniel was born in January 1995 and Denise left Ken ' s name off the birth certificate , leaving him without parental rights . Denise ran away with Daniel later that year , but when Ken tracked them down , the parents agreed to give their relationship another go . In January 1996 , Ken discovered that Denise had been having an affair with her brother - in - law Brian Dunkley and subsequently kicked her out , refusing to let her see Daniel . Denise left with Brian , abandoning Daniel and leaving him in the care of Ken . That November , Denise returned for Daniel , with Ken forced to hand him over as he had no legal rights to his son . Denise , Brian and Daniel moved to Scotland in January 1997 . Although Daniel visited Ken the following July , Ken was distraught to realise that Daniel didn ' t recognise him as his father . Ken quickly lost touch with Daniel . Sometime later , Denise broke up with Brian and moved back to the Manchester area with Daniel . In 2007 , Denise contacted Ken to offer her sympathy after reading about his daughter Tracy ' s murder conviction . He learned that Daniel and his mother lived nearby . While his marriage to Deirdre went through a rocky patch , Ken went to visit Denise and Daniel in May , hoping to build a relationship with his estranged son . Daniel and Ken struggled to get to know each other , especially when Deirdre and Ken ' s mother - in - law Blanche interfered . Ken stayed with Denise for a short while but Daniel began to resent his father ' s presence , even telling a friend that Ken was actually his grandfather . Ken remained in contact with Daniel over the next few years but was not especially willing to be open about him to friends and family . When he met his long - lost first son Lawrence Cunningham , Ken neglected to tell him about Daniel , leaving other son Peter to announce his existence in the Rovers Return . During a discussion between Ken and Deirdre about Daniel in 2011 , Peter ' s son Simon asked who he was , to which Deirdre replied " a relative " . Around 2010 , when Daniel was fifteen , Denise wanted to move away , however Daniel refused because of his friends and GCSEs . Denise instead walked out on him , and he didn ' t hear from her again . Daniel kept Denise ' s disappearance a secret from friends and teachers as he was afraid of being taken into care . In December 2011 , Ken left the Street for a few days to visit Daniel . 2016 - : Return . In November 2016 , Daniel started visiting his father at Weatherfield General after learning he had experienced a stroke . This was a private affair as Ken refused to see his other children Peter and Tracy . The older siblings eventually stormed into the ward to see who Ken ' s mystery visitor was , leaving Daniel to introduce himself , meeting Peter and Tracy for the first time , as well as his nephew Adam .