Coronation Street: Roy Cropper actor's life off screen - rarely seen wife and secret Spanish life
Coronation Street's Roy Cropper, played by David Neilson, has been a beloved character on the ITV soap for nearly three decades.
The actor, now 75, has had some significant storylines since he first appeared on the famous cobbles in 1995, at the age of 46.
Over the years, viewers have seen his character fall in love with Hayley, one of television's first transgender characters, and mourn her death after she took her own life following a terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2013.
Recently, Roy was falsely imprisoned for the 'murder' of Lauren Bolton, a colleague from his cafe, Roy's Rolls. It was later revealed that the real culprit was villain Joel, who is also the father of Lauren's baby.
Although Roy was eventually released from prison, he has become more withdrawn in recent episodes. As fans eagerly anticipate what will happen next for Roy, we delve into David's life off-screen, which includes his seldom-seen wife and a secret retreat in Spain, reports the Mirror.
David has been married to his supportive and rarely-seen wife Jane for over 50 years. The couple have a son named Daniel and are proud grandparents to two little girls.
Jane has played a crucial role in the development of David's character, Roy. In a 2009 interview with The Mirror, David disclosed that he subtly incorporated aspects of autism into Roy's character, attributing this to Jane's insights from her work as a Special Education Needs and Disability teacher.
He revealed: "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."
The impact of Jane's influence on Roy's character is evident as he is now one of the most beloved characters on the ITV soap. Explaining his approach, David said: "My wife is a special needs teacher and she worked with people with autism. She suggested that Roy could have Asperger's syndrome, making him socially awkward rather than threatening. Nobody really knew what Asperger's was back in 1995, so it's my wife I owe it to."
"It's never mentioned in the story though, and it shouldn't be. Roy is a human being and a label doesn't help him. But I think he's got it. It gives him reasons for his behaviour and gives me something to play. I enjoy idiosyncrasies in people and Roy is full of them."
Since 2002, David and Jane have been dividing their time between Spain and England, enabling them to lead a more ordinary life.
David shared with The Mirror: "I need to get away from Roy and be myself and they don't know Roy in Barcelona. If I'm in Spain for a few days I forget what I do for a living, which is the important thing. It means when I come back and someone shouts 'Roy', for a moment I forget they're actually talking to me. And it's only a couple of hours on the plane so I can commute to Manchester easily enough."
He added: "Another reason we moved was for excitement. I like to do different things and it's been good to learn a language and get into a different culture. Our son Daniel had left for university and we were in Bristol in a big house and we thought, 'What shall we do? '".
*Coronation Street airs every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8pm on ITV and ITVX.