Corrie's Roy Cropper life off-screen - move to Spain and touching tribute to mum

14 August 2023 , 16:00

1093 0

Actor David Neilson has played loveable Roy Cropper on Coronation Street for 25 years after landing a permanent fixture on the cobbles in 1997.

From his signature cardigans and shopping bag to his heartbreaking love affair with anorak-wearing Hayley, Roy's character has captured the nation's hearts.

His latest storyline sees the Roy's Rolls café owner left feeling horrified, after a teen on the cobbles offers to have sex with him in return for having a place to stay.

Here, we take a took at what David's life is like off-screen and how his beloved family has inspired some of his best-loved scenes - including the help of his doting wife.

EastEnders and singing career

Corrie's Roy Cropper life off-screen - move to Spain and touching tribute to mum eiqreidqhiqhqinv

David Neilson has played Roy Cropper for 25 years in Corrie

You wouldn't believe it, but David is now 74 years old. Born in Loughborough in the Midlands in March 1949, he was 20 when he moved to London to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. To fund his studies, David worked as a gas fitter, ice cream salesman and pulled pints as a barman. David went on to win small roles in Z-Cars, Young at Heart, Casualty, Heartbeat and Bergerac.

Corrie's Sue Cleaver says I'm A Celebrity stint helped her to push boundaries

He even popped up in EastEnders in the early 90s as property buyer, Mr Webster, and appeared on Stars In Their Eyes as singer Roy Orbison. But it was Coronation Street that gave him his big break when he was cast as Roy Cropper in 1995, becoming a show regular two years later.

Corrie's Roy Cropper life off-screen - move to Spain and touching tribute to mum

Coronation Street will see one teenager make a pass at Roy Cropper in a shocking plot (ITV)

Rarely-seen wife and son

David with wife Jane, who suggested Roy have Asperger's (David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

The couple have been married for nearly 50 years (MCPIX)

By the time he landed the part on Coronation Street, David was already with his wife Jane, who he is thought to have been married to for 48 years. They share one son Daniel, now 40, and are grandparents to two young granddaughters.

A special needs teacher who has worked with people with autism throughout her career, it was wife Jane who suggested David's character could have Asperger's. In his earliest scenes, Roy was depicted as a sinister loner who pestered Deirdre Barlow, but he was able to give the character more depth following advice from Jane.

David with grown-up son Daniel (Instagram)

David told The Mirror : "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. 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."

Touching tribute to mum

Roy with his famous shopping bag that belonged to his late mum Phyllis (ITV)

Sadly David's mum Phyllis passed away just before he started on Coronation Street, but she provided him with one of his signature props – his shopping bag! The bag David uses on the cobbles is the same one Phyllis used to do her shopping around Loughborough for years.

In a previous interview with The Mirror, David revealed: "That bag went round Loughborough market for many years! My mother died just before I joined the show so I was chucking stuff out and thought it would be good for Roy. He was always knocking on Deirdre’s door, asking if she needed a bit of shopping and initially they gave me a carrier bag. But you see guys standing at bus stops with bags like that and I thought I’d introduce it. It’s also very handy to carry my scripts round in!"

Secret move to Spain

David moved to Spain after being overwhelmed by Roy's fame in the UK (Eamonn & James Clarke)

In 2002, David and Jane swapped their family home in the UK for sunnier Barcelona to escape the fame his character Roy brought him. "It was a shock. Occasionally I would be on television in something and someone would recognise me as an actor, but this was different," he told The Mirror. "If you are in someone's living room three times a week you become a member of the family, so I was surprised at first."

By nature, a private man who rarely gives interviews, David revealed he moved to Spain to try and escape the attention. "I need to get away from Roy and be myself and they don't know Roy in Barcelona," he shared. "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.

"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 [at the time] and we were in Bristol in a big house and we thought, 'What shall we do?'" Quite a lot, as it turned out. David completed an Open University degree, studied Spanish and was learning to play the guitar last we heard...