to allow actress Anne Kirkbride to go on medical leave for several months. She had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and needed time to recuperate. When Deirdre returns, she hopes that she and Ken will reconcile, but is saddened to learn that Denise Osbourne (Denise Black) is expecting Ken's baby. Needing a holiday, Deirdre goes to Morocco, where she meets and falls in love with Samir Rachid (Al Nedjari). He comes back to Weatherfield, insisting their relationship is more than a holiday romance. To keep Samir in the UK, and not have him deported back to Morocco, Deirdre decides that she and Samir get married, despite him being nearly twenty years younger than her. They marry in November 1994, despite the disapproval of Deirdre's teenage daughter Tracy, at this point played by Dawn Acton. Deirdre and Samir decide to move to Morocco for the foreseeable future, leaving No. 1 Coronation Street in the capable hands of Mike Baldwin, so he can put the house up for sale. A few months later and the day before Samir is due to donate a kidney to Tracy, he is attacked by thugs. Tracy had suffered kidney failure following a drugs overdose. In hospital, Deirdre keeps a vigil by his bedside, hoping that Samir will wake up and recover. Sadly, he slips away, leaving Deirdre devastated, but also angry, because of the cruel way he has been taken from her. A day later, the kidney transplant goes ahead and Tracy gradually makes a full recovery. In 1997, Deirdre falls in love with Jon Lindsay (Owen Aaronovitch), who claims to be an airline pilot. Ken exposes Jon as a fraud after seeing him working at a tie shop at Manchester Airport. Jon claims that he was embarrassed to admit that he had lost his pilot's licence due to failing eyesight. Deirdre forgives Jon, unaware he is implicating her in his numerous financial scams. They split up after she finds out he is married – but when she tries to retrieve the money she gave Jon towards a mortgage, she is charged with theft. Jon portrays her as the brains behind the crime and Deirdre is found guilty of fraud, receiving a prison sentence of eighteen months while Jon walks free. While in prison, Deirdre makes an unexpected friend in Jackie Dobbs (Margi Clarke). Ken and Mike fight to free Deirdre, but her case looks hopeless