Desmond Francis "Des" Barnes was the owner of 6 Coronation Street and husband of Steph and Natalie. Des and Steph moved in on their wedding day in 1990. They broke up the following year when Steph left Des for Simon Beatty, blaming Des for being more interested in his boat than her. After their split, he lived as a bachelor at No.6 and bedded many of the Street's women, including Angie Freeman, Lisa Duckworth, Tanya Pooley and Maxine Heavey. He was the great love of Raquel Wolstenhulme's life; although Des cared about her, she brought out the worst in him as he preferred smarter women and treated her as a rebound girlfriend.