Ralph Lancaster Ralph Lancaster was the slightly effete owner of the Gatsby Club , where Rita Littlewood had the occasional singing engagement in the 1970s . Ralph first auditioned Rita in May 1975 , when agent Alec Gilroy mounted a revival of her singing career . Immediately impressed , Ralph signed Rita for a spot but insisted that she perform with the club pianist instead of Ernest Bishop . Rita went down well and was given further engagements , with punters coming from as far away as Crewe to see her perform . On one evening , a fracas in the club between Ray Langton and Maurice Gordon over Deirdre Hunt became so severe that Ralph threatened to call the police , although the two men agreed to leave the premises quietly . Ralph blamed Rita for the incident as Ray was part of a group from the Street who had come along to watch her perform , as a result of which he decided against extending her contract with the club , claiming that he only did so " in exceptional circumstances " . Ralph re - appeared on the scene in September 1977 , when he called 9 Coronation Street to offer her a spot . Since she last worked for Ralph , Rita had wed Len Fairclough , and it was Len who answered the phone to Ralph . Being against his wife playing in night clubs , Len told Ralph first on the phone and then in person ( when Ralph paid a visit to No . 9 ) that Rita had given up her singing career , although it was obvious to Ralph that her " stiff - necked Victorian husband " was making his wife ' s decision for her and did not intend to tell her about Ralph ' s offer . Persevering , Ralph finally got hold of Rita by phoning The Kabin . Rita was delighted to hear from him and allowed Ralph to sweet - talk her into taking the gig , although she saw through his flattery and got him to admit that his seeking her out was actually a result of him being let down by another act . Len continued to be a problem , confronting Ralph at the Gatsby when he heard that Ralph had taken Rita out to lunch , which Ralph described as a business meeting , but he agreed not to stand in Rita ' s way when she offered to restrict her " comeback " to one engagement , which was a charity night . In the event , the spot gained something of a mixed reception ; with Ernie Bishop unable to accompany Rita due to injuring his hand , Ralph had to appeal to the Gatsby crowd for a replacement . The only respondent was Fay , an elderly woman who could only play sing - alongs like " She ' ll be coming round the mountain . . . " , which gained a rousing response from the crowd but not the billed singer . Nearly a year later , when Fairclough and Langton was going through a bad patch , Rita went to see Ralph at the Gatsby to ask for work , with Len encouraging her due to their financial situation . Ralph was full of the usual compliments about Rita ' s talent but disappointed his " favourite songbird " by telling her he was booked up for the foreseeable future . After seeing him being affectionate with singer Jilly West , Rita wondered if Ralph thought she was past it and was letting her down gently , but Ralph insisted he would have offered her work if there was any going and suggested she go to The Tannery social club - a Working Man ' s Club - as it was audition day there . Baulking at the idea , Rita took her leave of Ralph . In February 1979 , Ralph shared a brief conversation with Suzie Birchall when she was on an evening out at the Gatsby with Paul Stringer . When Suzie commented that his singer wasn ' t up to much , Ralph replied that she was the best he could get as the other lady was down with flu , and that he ' d considered giving Rita a call . Made aware of Ralph ' s predicament , Rita accepted an offer of a week ' s work at the Gatsby , with Len going along to watch her , unwinding enough to make small - talk with Ralph . A year later , when Rita left Len and moved into Poppy Watts ' s boarding house in Salford , she contacted Ralph asking for work . Ralph keenly came to her aid , giving her singing engagements at the Gatsby and a rent - free flat , with the work dependent on her accepting the flat . At one point making a fumbled attempt to kiss Rita , Ralph ' s intentions were clear , and so Rita decided to turn down his help entirely . However , having obtained Rita ' s address from Mavis Riley , Len turned up at the flat and found Rita and Ralph together . He managed to scare Ralph off , but when he failed to convince Rita to return to him , leading to Rita leaving the flat and the area entirely , Len only had Ralph ' s involvement to go on as a clue to his wife ' s whereabouts , and started hanging around the Gatsby until Ralph divulged the information . Ralph tolerated Len ' s presence but when Len tried to start a punch - up , Ralph had him thrown out . In January 1981 , Ralph got Rita a job in Stockport , which she accepted but kept Ralph ' s involvement a secret from Len , with whom she had been reconciled since their last meeting . Taking a message for Rita from Ralph , Hilda Ogden hinted to Len that Rita had a fella , causing Rita to come clean to Len about Ralph getting her the job .