Being brought up in modest means in Radcliffe, Kentucky, which made her envious of her two best friends Esther Saunders and Mavis Hawthorne, who were better off. She dated Esther's brother Peter for some time in their adolescence. At age 17, her whole life changed when her parents were killed tragically in a house fire. In 1972 she married up-and-coming realtor Patrick Covington. Three years later, their son Daniel was born, and she goes on to become one of the wealthiest women in town as her husband's business empire becomes successful. She, however, felt abandoned by Patrick, putting more focus into growing Covington Group. Lonely, she began having an extramarital affair with Esther and Peter's father, Jimmy Saunders. When she discovered that she was pregnant, she confessed to her husband about her adultery. Not wanting a scandal, he decided not to disrupt their family over her discretion. Daughter Emma was born in 1986, still with her paternity in question. Four years later, the family moved to New York City when Patrick moves the company's headquarters there. Deirdre goes onto become a New York City socialite.

In 2017, now a widow who got the bulk of her late husband's estate worth three-hundred million dollars. She is mentioned to be vacationing with her youngest grandson Tommy in Naples, Italy. It is also mentioned that she is spending Christmas in her house with her girlfriends in Aspen, Colorado.

She first appears in Episode 68, in which she returns to Radcliffe after being away for two decades. It doesn't take long for old dynamics to resurface at her grandson Max's wedding to Shauna Jackson. It is also first hinted that Emma can be Jimmy's daughter in which Deirdre puts the claim to rest. Although, it is revealed she lied about a DNA test being administered to determine Patrick being her biological father.