Hayley and Roy Cropper
'Coronation Street's Hayley Cropper may only have six months to live.
The factory worker - played by Julie Hesmondhalgh - and her husband Roy Cropper (David Neilson) are given the devastating news this week that Hayley's aggressive form of pancreatic cancer is incurable after an operation on her tumour is unsuccessful.
David told Inside Soap magazine: "It's been at the back of Roy's mind that Hayley will die. That thought is always lurking when people find out that they, or a loved one, has cancer. Roy deals with it in a very raw way - he probably doesn't have the tool kit to handle it in the way others do."
The shocking news knocks the residents of Weatherfield as they attempt to deal with the situation, but in the meantime Hayley has vowed to stay positive and tells Roy she's going to make a 'bucket list' of all the things she wants to do before she dies.
David explained: "When Hayley announced this wish list, Roy goes along with it, if reluctantly. Some of it is quite frivolous and not very Roy, but he's trying to do his best. His devotion to Hayley means he will make every attempt to do what she wants of him."
The 43-year-old actress announced earlier this year that she'll be leaving the Cobbles behind after playing the show's first transsexual character, but TV bosses have agreed the only way to separate the favourite couple, Roy and Hayley, is if she is struck down with a terminal illness.
Tagged in David Neilson Julie Hesmondhalgh