Coronation Street’s Roy Cropper is to find out he has a long-lost brother.
The cobbles favourite – played by David Neilson – will discover his late mother Sylvia Goodwin (Stephanie Cole) gave away a son, Paul, after an affair, but Roy will meet up with his sibling only to be told he is dying.
A source said: "It’s a cruel twist for the much-loved character, as he was so thrilled to discover he has more family after losing his mother."
This comes after Roy’s wife Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh) took her own life in 2014 after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.
The source added to The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column: "It was particularly hard for him to deal with as he’d already had to cope with his wife, Hayley, enduring a terminal illness."
Earlier this year, Roy and Hayley’s former foster son Wayne Hayes returned to the cobbles, more than 17 years since his last visit.
Health-and-safety inspector Wayne – played by Adam Barlow, the namesake of Sam Robertson’s ‘Corrie’ character – headed back to Weatherfield in March and was involved in the Underworld factory collapse storyline.
It saw him try to put pressure on Roy’s pal and factory owner Carla Connor (Alison King) after the tragedy left Rana Habeeb (Bhavna Limbachia) dead.
Roy and Hayley had previously taken Wayne in after the youngster stole food from his cafe, but they took pity on him upon discovering his stepfather Alex Swinton (Joe Simpson) had been hitting him.
The couple later kidnapped Wayne to protect him from Alex following a camping trip in Derbyshire, but turned themselves into police which later saw Hayley kept in custody after she refused not to have any contact with the lad.
But nearly a year after meeting Wayne, Roy managed to persuade Wayne’s mum Sheila Hayes (Jeni Williams) to go to the police about Alex, and he was later arrested.
Wayne, who was 10 at the time, and Sheila turned up to see Roy and Hayley for a final time on Christmas Eve 2001 before departing the cobbles.
Coronation Street’s Roy Cropper to discover he has long-lost brother
