Ken you believe it? 10yrs on and Denise is back...

CORONATION Street fans got almost as much of a shock as Ken Barlow last night when his ex Denise Osbourne returned. Denise, last on screen a decade ago, is the mother of Ken’s son Daniel. And the trio had an unhappy reunion – with Ken and Denise fearing Daniel, still upset over her exit in 2007, could kill himself as he locked himself away in the bathroom. Speaking about her return to the soap, actress Denise Black says she was so keen to bond with Rob Mallard, who plays her on-screen son, she stayed on his sofa so they could rehearse together. Denise says: “I had to go back and watch Denise Osbourne from the early 90s, which is strange because that is a different me. I could hardly recognise myself, I thought ‘God I am hot!’. What happened? “I have known three actors who have played the role of Daniel, so what I needed was to graft straight on to Rob. Me and Rob hung out, I went and stayed on his sofa and we ran lines together.” Denise refused to say how long she was staying in the soap but interestingly she wouldn’t rule out a romance with Ken, who she was with for several years in the mid-90s. Grinning, she says: “Me and Bill get on great and he is looking well, isn’t he? Watch this space. I think it is wonderful they are at the bathroom door arguing. I thought ‘Here we go, we are off ’.” Denise is also not fazed by the fact that her character is returning with a lot of baggage. She adds: “The brief I was given was she speaks her mind and is front-footed and not always right. She is a bit Marmite, you either love her or hate her. “She abandoned her son and look at the damage it did. But she is desperate to be a good woman and put things right.”