Robert Preston Robert Preston is the former husband of Tracy Barlow . Robert was working as a carpet fitter when he married 19 - year - old Tracy in 1996 after a six month relationship . The couple moved to London soon afterwards but separated in 2002 after Tracy had an affair . Remaining in London , Robert became a fully qualified chef some time later and went on to marry a woman named Joni . Robert made contact with Tracy again in July 2015 , on the day of Tracy ' s mother ' s funeral where he admitted his heart always lay with Tracy . He rekindled his relationship with Tracy in the same month and divorced Joni , moving to Weatherfield where he was given a job at Nick ' s Bistro . Robert left Tracy in May 2016 after she ruined the wedding of Carla Connor and Nick Tilsley , which she had done purely out of spite . Robert continues to work in the Bistro and holds a 50 - 50 partnership with Nick . Biography . Robert was a 25 - year - old carpet fitter when he met Tracy Barlow in 1996 . After a six month relationship , they became engaged to the disapproval of Tracy ' s parents Ken and Deirdre . However they soon warmed to Robert and the couple got married on 13th November 1996 . They were going to tie the knot in London , and not tell Ken and Deirdre the news but Tracy decided to marry in Weatherfield instead as it was cheaper . They married at Weatherfield Register Office . She bought a £14 wedding dress . After their wedding , they left the street and moved to London . In 1999 , Robert accused Tracy of having an affair with her friend Dan but Tracy insisted nothing was going on between them . Ken and Deirdre were forced to intervene to help the couple sort their issues . In 2002 , Tracy had an affair with Robert ' s best friend Graham which led to her returning to Weatherfield ; she later divorced Robert , which shocked her parents . Deirdre tried to change Tracy ' s mind about Robert , but she simply refused to go back to him . Robert remained in London where he eventually became a qualified chef and married his second wife Joni . However , Robert still pined for Tracy which made his relationship with Joni difficult . Robert returned to Weatherfield for Deirdre ' s funeral in July 2015 . He met up with Tracy later that day at No . 1 and made it clear he still loved her despite the way she treated him . The pair started to kiss and were in the midst of getting undressed in the living room before Ken walked in . Ken was appalled at Tracy ' s actions on the day of Deirdre ' s funeral and ordered Robert to leave . The next day he turned up at Barlow ' s Buys where Tracy was getting harassed by two men wanting payment after her business partner Tony Stewart did a disappearing act . Robert threatened to beat up the men , causing them to scarper . The couple then had a drink together in the Rovers where Robert revealed he was now working as a chef , and that the reason he returned to the North was because he missed her . In December , Tracy received a visiting order from ex - fiancé Rob Donovan , and although she was now with Robert , she grudgingly went to visit Rob at Highfield Prison . Rob told Tracy that despite the fact that she had betrayed him by turning him into the police he still loved her . Tracy failed to mention that she was with another man and agreed to visit Rob again . He later managed to use a mobile phone that ' d been smuggled into the prison , and called Robert to ask him to meet him . When the two men faced each other , Rob informed Robert that Tracy had been seeing him . Robert was sceptical at first but Rob was able to prove that she had been there . Robert intended to propose to Tracy on Christmas Day but with the new information he decided against doing so and instead made a fool out of Tracy by revealing to everyone in the Rovers that Tracy had been meeting her ex - fiancé . Tracy was devastated to discover that he knew and begged Robert not to leave her , but he didn ' t listen to her pleas . Robert ended up spending New Year ' s Eve at The Sunset Casino drowning his sorrows . While in there , Robert bumped into Carla Connor and decided to sit with her . After a big win at the roulette wheel , they booked a room and while on a high after the big win , they ended up having sex , although they immediately regretted it . Robert then bought a 20 % share in Nick ' s Bistro to wind Carla up . In an attempt to win Robert back , she named her new florist shop Preston ' s Petals , but Robert refused to attended the opening ceremony and headed back to the bistro but ultimately the couple got back together with Tracy not knowing about Robert and Carla ' s one - night stand . A few days later Carla found Robert doing paperwork inside the bistro and begged him not to go into business with her fiancé Nick Tilsley , but Robert refused to throw away a good opportunity for her sake . While talking in the darkened room , she spoke about the night in the casino . Unbeknown to Carla , Tracy was in the kitchen half - naked waiting to surprise Robert . After Robert left Carla in the bistro , Tracy was tempted to seek revenge on her long - time rival , but before she could do so two thugs burst into the bistro demanding money . Carla was tackled to the ground before she could escape . Tracy slipped through the back door without telling anyone what had just happened since she was so shocked by Robert ' s betrayal . Carla suffered serious injuries after she was thrown from the thugs ' getaway vehicle in an attempt to reclaim her handbag , and was put on life support but managed to survive . Carla , frightened that Tracy would tell Nick that she had sex with Robert , begged Nick to leave Weatherfield with her and start afresh in Devon . Robert saw this as an opportunity to buy the bistro and offered £90 , 000 to Nick for the business but before he could seal the deal , Leanne Tilsley gave a higher offer to Nick - the money being from stepson Simon Barlow ' s trust fund . Tracy , who desperately wanted the bistro demanded that Carla gave her £10 , 000 in order to beat Leanne ' s offer . Carla took money from Underworld ' s account and handed it to Tracy . Nick ultimately took Robert and Tracy ' s offer following heavy persuasion from Carla . Nick and Carla ' s marriage didn ' t last long and Nick ultimately stayed in Weatherfield whereas Carla moved to Devon by herself . Compared to Nick , Robert was not a natural boss and soon began to mistreat his staff . This resulted in Leanne quitting her job . Nick , in an attempt to spite Robert , planned to open a new restaurant with Leanne and chose premises on Viaduct Street right beside Robert ' s and he also reported him to the police for drink driving which ended in Rob facing a ban for twelve months . Soon after Robert ' s chef , Zeedan Nazir , had enough and also quit his job . Now desperately low on staff , Robert managed to strike a deal with Nick but only after much arguing : the two settled on a 50 - 50 partnership in the bistro . Quotes . " Cheers . Nice to meet you . " ( First line to Deirdre Barlow ) See also . Full list of appearances