Raquel Catherine Watts (née Wolstenhulme) was a long-serving barmaid at the Rovers Return and the first wife of Curly Watts, with whom she had a daughter, Alice Watts. Raquel started at the Rovers in 1992 when she was taken under Bet Gilroy's wing. She worked there for four years, while taking on the occasional modelling assignment. Her ultimate goal was to model for a big designer. For most of her time in Coronation Street, Raquel only thought of Curly as a friend although he loved her from afar. It was only when on/off lover Des Barnes continually cheated on her and used her that Raquel became attracted to Curly as she knew he would respect her, however this never provided a solid foundation for a marriage and in 1996 Raquel walked out on Curly to go for a modelling job in Kuala Lumpur.