This article contains spoilers for tonight’s Coronation Street, which has not yet aired on TV but is available to watch now on ITVX.
Roy Cropper (David Neilson) paid tribute to wife Hayley Cropper in a deeply moving scene in Coronation Street tonight, and our hearts can’t take it.
Roy and Hayley were the very definition of soulmates, and were married for 15 years before Hayley sadly died in 2014.
After a battle with pancreatic cancer, Hayley decided to take control and end her life, with Roy’s support.
In tonight’s episode, Roy reflected on how it would have been Hayley’s birthday, as he and vicar Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) discussed Julie Carp’s (Katy Cavanagh) recent passing.
Later, he explained to Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) how every year on Hayley’s birthday he lights a candle on a cake to remember her.
Once Dee-Dee was gone, Roy wished Hayley a happy birthday before blowing out the candle.
He was further reminded of Hayley’s passing later in the episode, when Brian Packham (Peter Gunn) confessed to reporting Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) to the police for helping Julie take her own life, despite the fact that this wasn’t true.
However, Brian stood firm in his belief that Eileen was to blame for him losing the love of his life, though Roy tried in vain to convince him otherwise, having previously been in a similar position.
Roy explained how agonising it can be to see the person you love terrified and in pain, and that if Eileen had helped Julie to end her life then she deserved pity instead of retribution.
Though he didn’t admit that he had been in the same position with Hayley, Roy insisted that having to take the life of a loved one, even though they begged for it, would be an enormous burden to carry.
