Denise Osbourne Denise Osbourne was a hairdresser in Coronation Street in the 1990s , the mother of Daniel Osbourne and ex - partner of Ken Barlow . Biography . 1955 - 1992 : Early life . Denise married solicitor Frank Osbourne but later divorced him and married Neil Mitchell in 1990 . 1992 - 1994 : Arrival on the street . Denise moved to Coronation Street in 1992 , by which point she had left Neil . She opened a salon at No . 2 , living in the flat above . Denise was popular with the male residents . In 1993 , she became close to Don Brennan who had recently had his foot amputated , as she had a hand disability . Don invested in Denise ' s salon and wanted to become closer to her . He harassed her with telephone calls and although Denise pinned the blame on Don ' s wife Ivy , Don confessed to being behind the campaign . 1994 - 1996 : Relationship with Ken . In 1994 , Denise started a relationship with Ken Barlow . Soon afterwards she became pregnant . Denise was distraught after miscarrying , but soon discovered that she had actually been carrying twins and the other twin had survived . Ken proposed to Denise but she turned him down and broke up with him . Denise gave birth to her son Daniel Osbourne in January 1995 and although Ken gave her support , she left his name off the birth certificate . Denise ran away with Daniel later that year , but when Ken tracked them down , they decided to give their relationship another go . In January 1996 , it transpired that Denise had been having an affair with her brother - in - law Brian Dunkley for two years . Ken ordered Denise to leave , so she moved away with Brian and abandoned Daniel in the care of Ken . In November , Denise returned for Daniel , leaving Ken with no choice but to hand him over due to his absence from the birth certificate . 1997 - 2010 : Bringing up Daniel . Denise , Daniel and Brian moved to Scotland in January 1997 and quickly lost contact with Ken . Sometime later , Denise broke up with Brian and moved back to the Manchester area with Daniel . In 2007 , Denise sent a card to Ken after learning that his daughter Tracy had been sent to prison for murder . Ken went to stay with Denise after experiencing problems with his wife Deirdre . Ken hoped to become closer to Daniel , which proved difficult due to his long absence . Ken stayed with Denise for a few weeks and although Daniel grew frustrated at his father ' s presence , Denise became closer and made a pass at Ken . However , Ken turned her down and later returned to Deirdre after a reconciliation . 2010 : Disappearance . Denise wasn ' t the same after Ken returned to Deirdre , so around 2010 , when Daniel was 15 , she decided to move away . Daniel refused to go with her due to his GCSEs and friends , so remained on his own while Denise left . Daniel didn ' t hear from her again and was forced to lie to friends and teachers that Denise was still around to avoid being taken into care . When 21 - year - old Daniel reconciled with Ken in November 2016 , his family became suspicious of where his mother was , especially after his adoptive sister Tracy entered his flat without his knowledge and deduced Denise wasn ' t living with him due to lack of female presence . Daniel was forced to admit the truth to his family .