Roy Cropper real life: Who is Coronation Street actor David Neilson married to?

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Coronation Street wouldn’t be the same without the kind-hearted and often misunderstood Roy Cropper (played by David Neilson). As the owner of Roy’s Rolls, he is always on hand to provide encouragement, advice and a shoulder to cry on for the past 27 years in the ITV soap. Fans will remember he was at the heart of a devastating storyline though back in 2014 when his beloved Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh) died.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Coronation Street.

Eight years ago, Roy’s beloved wife Hayley was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Sadly, it was terminal and she didn’t want to wither away so decided to die on her own terms with Roy’s help.

The couple sat in bed together as she drank a lethal cocktail of drugs, leaving her husband devastated as she died in his arms.

While Hayley hasn’t been in the show for several years, her memory still lives on in Coronation Street.

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Roy Cropper real life: Who is Coronation Street actor David Neilson married to in real life? (Image: ITV/GETTY)

Coronation Street: Roy Cropper’s wife Hayley died in 2014. (Image: ITV)

In recent episodes, Roy’s niece Nina Lucas (Mollie Gallagher) and Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) accidentally gave away Hayley’s precious red coat to charity.

Roy was upset to learn it had gone and Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman) did believe the charity shop worker had decided to secretly keep it for herself.

Evelyn grabbed the coat off her back, only for Roy to later clarify it wasn’t Hayley’s after all.

She apologised to the shop worker and was forced to agree to start volunteering to make up for her wrongdoing.

Coronation Street: Roy Cropper was briefly in a relationship with Cathy Matthews. (Image: ITV)

Coronation Street: Bernie and Nina lost Hayley Cropper’s beloved red coat. (Image: ITV)

Coronation Street’s Roy Cropper actor is married to a woman called Jane Neilson.

They have been together for a whopping 47 years and share a son, Daniel, who is now 38.

David and Jane are now grandparents as well to Daniels’ two children, although it isn’t known how old they are.

While David prefers to keep his personal life away from the media, he did previously explain that Jane had a massive part in keeping Roy in the iconic soap.

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David was originally contracted for just six episodes but with some advice from his wife, he was able to give his character more longevity.

He explained: “Roy was a psychopath. He was stalking Deirdre and was a bit scary. It’s nice to play psychos but they don’t stay around too long.

“My wife is a special needs teacher and she worked with people with autism.

“She said Roy could have Asperger’s syndrome, making him socially inept, rather than menacing.

“Nobody really knew what Asperger’s was back in 1995, so it’s my wife I owe it to.”

David added that Roy “shouldn’t be” labelled though as it wouldn’t help him in any way.

“It gives him reasons for his behaviour and gives me something to play.

“I enjoy idiosyncrasies in people and Roy is full of them.”

Coronation Street continues four nights a week at 8pm on ITV.