Roy Cropper star's life away from Cobbles from rarely seen wife, kids and secret Spanish home

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Coronation Street's Roy Cropper is one of the most iconic characters on TV and has been played by actor David Neilson for almost three decades.

Roy first made his appearance on the Cobbles in 1995 as a secondary character, but two years later, Roy became a permanent fixture on the ITV soap and ever since, he has captured the nation’s hearts as loveable Roy, with his signature cardigans and shopping bag he seems to take everywhere, writes The Mirror.And many die-hard fans of the soap will recall Roy's heartbreaking love affair with anorak-wearing Hayley, played by actress Julie Hesmondhalgh.

Viewers were absolutely devastated in 2014 when Hayley, the first transgender character in British soap, sadly died after taking her own life following a terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

After Hayley's passing, Roy went on to have a short-lived romance with Cathy and also discovered he had a niece, Nina, who now lives with him and helps run his cafe, Roy’s Rolls.Most recently on the soap, poor Roy was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack, but luckily the loveable character seems to be on the mend.We take a look at what David’s life is like off-screen and how his family inspired some of his Corrie character Roy’s most famous traits.It is hard to believe that David is 74 years old now.He was born in Loughborough in the Midlands in March 1949, and moved to London to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama when he was 20.In a bid to pay for his studies, David worked as a gas fitter, ice cream salesman and pulled pints as a barman.David bagged a couple of small roles in Z-Cars, Young at Heart, Casualty, Heartbeat and Bergerac.He even briefly starred in EastEnders in the early 90s as property buyer Mr