ITV Coronation Street's Roy Cropper actor's life in Spain with rarely-seen wife


Coronation Street's Roy Cropper, played by David Neilson, has been a beloved character on the ITV soap for nearly three decades.

The 75-year-old actor, who first portrayed Roy in 1995, has had an eventful life off-screen as well.

Over the years, viewers have seen his character fall in love with Hayley, one of television's first transgender characters, and mourned alongside him when she took her own life after a terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2013.

Recently, Roy was falsely imprisoned for the 'murder' of Lauren Bolton, a colleague at his cafe, Roy's Rolls. It was later revealed that the real culprit was Joel, the father of Lauren's baby.

Although Roy was eventually released from prison, he has become more withdrawn lately. As fans eagerly anticipate what's next for Roy, we delve into David's life outside of Coronation Street, including his seldom-seen wife and a secret hideaway in Spain.

Supportive wife

David Neilson with His Wife Jane
David Neilson shares a son with his wife Jane -Credit:PA

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Off-screen actor David has been married to wife Jane for more than 50 years. They have a son called Daniel and are grandparents to two little girls.

And it's Jane who has been instrumental in evolving his character, Roy. In a chat with The Mirror back in 2009, David revealed he had quietly introduced traits of autism into Roy, crediting wife Jane's insights from her experience working as a Special Education Needs and Disability teacher.

He shared: "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."

Roy influence

Obviously developing Roy's character worked as he is now one of the best-loved stars on the ITV soap. Explaining how he did it, David said: "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."

"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 is people and Roy is full of them."

Secret life in Spain

Since 2002, David and Jane have split their time between Spain and England, allowing them to live a more normal life.

David told 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 continued: "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?'"