Steph Barnes Stephanie " Steph " Barnes ( née Jones ) was the daughter of Maurice Jones and first wife of Des . The Barnes were an upwardly mobile couple who were always falling out . After just a year of marriage , Steph left Des for Simon Beatty and they got divorced in 1994 . When she last saw Des , Steph was heavily pregnant with her ex - boyfriend Chris Fox ' s baby . Biography . 1965 - 1991 . Steph and Des Barnes moved into the newly built 6 Coronation Street on their wedding night in February 1990 . Steph ' s dad Maurice Jones owned the new side of Coronation Street and sold No . 6 to the Barnes ' at cost price . As they arrived in the Street , the newlyweds were already arguing as Des didn ' t like Maurice and begrudged having to thank him for fixing them up . When Des carried Steph over the threshold , he banged her head against the door , causing Steph to lock it behind her with Des still outside . After their honeymoon in Majorca , the Barnes settled into the Street . Des worked as a bookie ' s clerk and Steph at the make - up counter at Ashcroft Department Store in Manchester . They had a give - and - take marriage and didn ' t live out of each other ' s pockets , each doing their share of the cooking and cleaning . They liked a good laugh ; when Steph noticed how uncomfortable Kevin Webster was when she flirted with him , she bet Des that she could shave off his moustache at their housewarming party . Steph won the bet , and so Des had to keep up his end of the bargain by going into the Rovers without his trousers on . Later that year , Steph got an evening job promoting Pomme de Lite , a new cider . When one of the promo nights was at the Rovers , Des filled the pub with mates to embarrass her , but Steph got revenge by flirting with the customers and doing a strip tease on the bar top . In February 1991 , Steph suggested to Des that he take up a hobby . So Des went to a boat show and bought an old boat for £500 , planning to do it up in the back garden . The boat became an obsession of Des ' s and he let the house turn into a pigsty as he spent all of his spare time on the boat . Steph dug her heels in and refused to do more than her share of the housework , but this led to more arguing , with Des annoying Steph by treating it as a joke . Eventually , deciding to leave Des to it , Steph booked a skiiing holiday for one . This made Des realise he was being stupid and he apologised but despite this and Steph falling off the boat and hurting her ankle , Steph still went on the holiday . On the holiday , Steph was pestered by Clive Parnell , who climbed onto her balcony at night and wrote on Steph ' s leg plaster : “ Rome was not built in a day . But Steph was laid flat in two nights . None shall sleep . ” Des believed Steph had been faithful but on discovering Clive was a local man , he pretended to be a client so he confront Clive . Clive turned out to be a skilled fighter who overpowered Des easily and Steph had to break up the fight , but she was pleased that Des had fought for her honour . Some months later , Steph met architect Simon Beatty at work . Simon wanted to go out with Steph and with Des still going on about the boat , Steph enjoyed Simon ' s attentions and went with him to the theatre . They started an affair but were soon spotted by Derek Wilton having dinner together when Steph told Des she was at a friend ' s leaving party . Derek agreed not to tell Des but Mavis suggested to Des that Steph had a lover . With the boat finished , Des planned its maiden voyage and organised an outing to the canal with Steph , Martin , Gail and the kids . It was during this outing that Steph confessed to her affair to Des , and told him she was leaving him , blaming his selfishness . Steph returned to the Street with the Tilsleys and packed her things but became worried when Des didn ' t return from the trip . Eventually a despondent Des phoned Steph to tell her where he was and she raced over to see him , fearing he was about to do something stupid , only to discover he ' d got drunk and set fire to the boat as a symbolic gesture of the demise of their marriage . Encouraged to try and save his marriage , Des slashed Steph ' s suitcases , but Steph didn ' t love him anymore and walked out to live with Simon . 1992 - 1995 . In April 1992 , Steph left Simon and returned to Des , asking if she could stay in the spare room for a few nights . Simon had turned out to be jealous and possessive and Steph was leaving him for another man - but to avoid a messy break - up , she told Simon there was nobody else and the relationship had just ran its course . Staying with Des made sense as Simon knew that Steph would never reconcile with him so she could use it as a refuge until the dust settled . However , her arrival sent out the wrong message to Des , who was eager for a reconciliation and was annoyed when Steph didn ' t tell him about her new boyfriend until days after her arrival , by which time he ' d got his hopes up and lost his current girlfriend , Raquel Wolstenhulme , who left him when he kept ignoring her for Steph . Steph left shortly afterwards . A year later , the Barnes initiated divorce proceedings and they received their decree nisi in December 1993 . Nearly two years after this , while taking Tommy Duckworth out on Tommy ' s birthday , Des bumped into Steph when she was working at a fast food outlet . Steph was also heavily pregnant but she and the father Chris Fox were no longer in a relationship and she was living in a grotty bedsit , much to Des ' s horror . Des helped Steph find a flat and paid £500 as a deposit for her . Steph asked Des if he wanted to start again but Des didn ' t love her anymore and wanted to leave the past in the past . Quotes . " Yer smashed that door . Yer out of yer box ! " ( first line , to husband Des ) " Did you love her ? " ( Final line , to Des about Lisa Duckworth )