Victor Pendlebury Victor Pendlebury was the main man in Mavis Riley ' s life , other than Derek Wilton . Victor was obsessed with Mavis and re - appeared every so often with a fresh plot to split her and Derek up . Victor first met Mavis when they took an English Literature class at the Community Centre together in November 1982 . They got talking and bonded over their interest in the arts . Victor enchanted Mavis with his worldly tales and persuaded her to collaborate with him on a story for a radio competition , which they won with their entry " A Night to Forget " . To Victor they were just friends , but Mavis was hoping for more . At a dance , a shy Mavis was ignored by Victor in favour of Emily Bishop , and in typical fashion Mavis took this as the end for them and became flustered with Victor when they saw each other again . In April 1983 , Victor took Mavis on a camping holiday in the Lake District on her birthday . Mavis was swept along by Victor ' s enthusiasm for the outdoors but once they got there she was so uncomfortable with it that they ended up staying at a Youth Hostel . The following month , Victor told Mavis he was buying a cottage in Saddleworth and asked her to move in with him . Mavis suggested instead that they get married - aside from the years she ' d been spent longing for a husband , Mavis wanted security . But Victor wasn ' t interested in marrying and moved to Saddleworth without Mavis . Later that year , Mavis invited Victor to show off his homemade pottery at a fayre at the Centre . He was having a good time until he discovered his box of pottery had ended up at the plate - smashing stall ! Victor still paid Mavis the occasional visit . In August 1984 , he was amazed to discover that there was another man in Mavis ' s life - Derek Wilton , and that Mavis was engaged . Spurred on by jealousy , Victor warned Mavis that she was obviously on the rebound from him and begged her to leave Derek and marry him instead . Derek told Victor to stop hounding Mavis but Victor saw himself as Mavis ' s one true love and told Derek he ' d " never probed ( Mavis ' s ) soul " and that he should " let her soul fly free " . When the wedding day came around , the dithering couple were both no - shows at All Saints Church , having independently decided that they couldn ' t go through with it . Mavis told Rita Fairclough that neither Derek nor Victor really knew her , but that they only thought they did . After a long absence , Victor re - appeared on the scene in January 1990 and arranged a meeting with Mavis . Now Mrs . Wilton after marrying Derek on the second attempt , Mavis met with Victor without telling Derek , but on learning that Derek was unemployed , Victor offered him a job ( through Mavis ) with his recycling business , Pendlebury Paper Products . Derek swallowed his pride and was taken on by Victor , but the real humiliation was to come as Victor used Derek as an errand boy and met with Mavis in front of him . Victor was still in love with Mavis and on one night , with Derek away on an overnight job in Bedford , Victor called at The Kabin and played on Mavis ' s sympathy by telling her how lonely he was . Mavis took him up to the flat and he tried to seduce her by talking her into letting him use reflexology on her to cure her headache . Derek , who had panicked after discovering that Victor was out of office , drove back to Weatherfield and caught Victor handling Mavis ' s foot ! Derek saw Victor out and planned to quit PPP but on confronting him at the office they ended up getting drunk together on wine and Victor agreed never to trouble them again . For a while , Victor was true to his word - he left Weatherfield to take over the PPP branch in Darlington and left Derek in charge , but his lust for Mavis remained and later that year he married Yvonne , a Mavis - lookalike . The Wiltons were astonished when Victor returned and introduced them to his wife , who he admitted he had been attracted to because she was so like Mavis . He then introduced another trump card - he knew Derek ' s ex - wife Angela Hawthorne and sent Derek to Darlington to a business meeting with her , with instructions to " keep her sweet " . Derek secured the deal with Angela and the Wiltons survived Victor ' s latest attempt to split them up . In January 1992 , Derek decided to impress Victor by writing an analysis of PPP ' s shortcomings , potentially saving thousands . Victor was impressed , but not in the way Derek intended - he took its recommendation for making cutbacks and told Derek he ' d made himself redundant ! Mavis went to Victor at Derek ' s behest and asked Victor to reinstate him , but Victor told Mavis her charms were wasted on him - he no longer fancied her .