Hayley later breaks down in Roy's arms, saying that she does not want to die and does not want to leave him. They stopped seeing each other shortly after Hayley lost her virginity to Cath, and as a result Hayley didn't find out until 2007 that Cath had given birth to Hayley's son Christian Gatley. However, she did not want to sleep apart from Roy anyway, and as she moved into Roy's flat, they cemented their relationship, although Hayley lied to Roy by telling him that, like him, she was a virgin. When she saw Mike kissing Linda Sykes, Hayley didn't tell Alma to avoid hurting her, but when Alma found out that Mike had a girlfriend, she came clean. We didn't want people to be fearful of her and dislike her for the wrong reasons. The following week, Carla insists on going with Hayley for a CT scan where Hayley is diagnosed with stage-two pancreatic cancer. However, reaction to the character was mainly positive. Deciding not to return to the factory, Hayley continued with her volunteer work and helping Roy at the cafe. Carla Connor became the Underworld co-manager in 2007 following the death of her husband Paul. After explaining the situation fully to the police, the Croppers were granted bail on the condition that they didn't have any contact with Wayne. They eventually worked out their differences. Fiz subsequently returned to the area after turning sixteen, where she enjoyed a far better relationship with the Croppers. Hayley and Becky did have the occasional cross word. "But I don't want to be in authority. Roy returns without Hayley, who is caring for Sylvia as she isn't well. I know you do!" The Croppers were one of the few people Becky said goodbye to when she left the Street a few weeks later, to start a new life in Barbados. Hayley decides that Roy should see a doctor and tells him she will have the same tests done, which Roy finds comfort in. While there, Christian returns to the street and winds Fiz up about Hayley so she tells him that Hayley has cancer in an angry outburst. (50 Years), News that Coronation Street was set to introduce British soap's first transsexual character broke in the papers two weeks before Hayley's on-screen debut in Episode 4341 on 26th January 1998. When confronting Tracy, the Croppers are stunned when Tracy tells them that she is pregnant with Roy's baby and plans to have a termination if the Croppers do not want to adopt it. In particular, she never felt right in her body, especially after puberty which she described as "like sores breaking out". This was incorporated into scripts, with Curly Watts finding a vicar who would carry out a blessing ceremony which was then treated like a wedding, with Hayley changing her name by deed poll to Hayley Cropper. ", The decision to kill Hayley off came from incoming producer Stuart Blackburn, who described it as the "easiest decision [he'd made]". The dress is a success and Roy and Hayley attend Carla and Peter's wedding. Hayley felt the strain of everyone watching her and contemplated leaving Weatherfield, but Roy pleaded with her to stay and together they braved the Rovers. Shared exclusively by Hypebae, the visual is . When he transforms himself, it transforms me." We'll get to know Hayley as a person, not a soap-box cause." Hesmondhalgh has insisted that it was a "right to die" storyline not 'an assisted suicide' storyline. Although he took Hayley's revelation about her sex badly, Roy pursued her to Amsterdam, where she was having the final part of her treatment, and they returned to Weatherfield together as a proper couple. [4] In the episode, Hayley takes her own life, after living with terminal pancreatic cancer. Hayley caught up with Roy at the airport and returned to Weatherfield with him. Media outlets, noting the programme's usual reluctance to confront soap taboos, predicted "a storm of outrage, particularly from older viewers" (The Star, 16th February 1998). Hayley Cropper (also Hayley Patterson) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh. In 2001, Roy and Hayley decide to become foster parents. Furious that the police weren't investigating Alex, Hayley refused to accept her bail condition and was remanded in custody. She was a fast machinist and got a job at Underworld, though when her secret came out and she faced bigotry in the workplace and elsewhere, she found it difficult to cope with. Coronation Street's handling of transgender issues, the uncertainty of whether her partner would accept her gender identity and the inability of transgender people to adopt children or marry, has been praised by transgender groups. Mary realised she wasn't wanted when she didn't receive an invite to the wedding, and in revenge she disconnected the rear carriage, stranding the bridal party. Eventually Janice got fed up with Les and left him for Dennis Stringer. Hayley got in touch with Christian and he turned up at the cafe to see her, having stood her up at their arranged meeting in Bury two days prior due to his uncertainty about seeing her again. So I went away to this great bookshop in Manchester and said I need every book you've got on transgender. (Fifty Years of Coronation Street, Headline Publishing Group, 2010) At 27, Hesmondhalgh was four years younger than her character. For Hayley's return to the programme some months later, a communication was established between the production team, including Julie Hesmondhalgh, and a trans advisor, Annie Wallace, associated with Press for Change, the transgender campaign and information group. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Hayley was born as Harold Patterson in 1966. Hayley insisted that he get a full health check, offering to go through one herself to encourage him. The Croppers struck up an instant bond with Wayne, but although the quiet lad hadn't said why he ran away from home, as Alex left with Wayne, Roy saw him hit the boy through the cafe window. Both were successful in their auditions. As a result of this change in the law, the Croppers had a legal wedding in 2010. Initially, it was intended that Hayley would only appear for two months, it was thought that this would help increase ratings as well as show a new side to Roy Cropper (David Neilson). Since the passing of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in UK law, it has been possible for transgender people to change their birth certificates and marry legally. She hires a private investigator to track him down and introduces herself as his aunt. Proving their doubters wrong, they got married in 1999, and again in 2010, by which time changes in UK law meant that their union could be acknowledged legally as a result of the Gender Recognition Act 2004. Hayley was wary of Becky's attempts to befriend her but, sensing something in her, decided to cut her a break and gave her a job at the cafe. What's on TV describes the character as quiet, and kind-hearted. Hayley gets a message from Christian, wanting to meet in a caf in Bury. Roy and Hayley see an opportunity to raise a child and pay Tracy 25,000. Patience Cropper is renamed Amy Barlow and the Croppers are her godparents. After Christmas, Hayley and Roy went to the hospital for the results of another scan, carried out when Hayley complained about feeling pains. Initially seeming to take the news well, Hayley broke down in a panto queue and asked Roy to take her home, where she became hysterical and knocked the Christmas tree over, complaining that her life had meant nothing. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Coronation Street's Julie Hesmondhalgh: Hayley's death is not a 'right to die' storyline", "When Julie Met Hayley: Interview with Julie Hesmondhalgh", When Julie Met Hayley: The Original Interview with Julie Hesmondhalgh with Beaumont Magazine Columnist Samantha Johnson, "Entertainment | TV stars prepare for battle", "Real-life Hayley Cropper speaks publicly for the first time", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hayley_Cropper&oldid=1138353201, This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 06:01. In December, Roy and Hayley go to a hospital appointment where she tells the nurse that her pain is getting worse and she is prescribed with stronger painkillers. Hesmondhalgh: I was very excited to be involved in some action drama because that's not my normal place in the show, I'm usually behind a knicker machine or serving butties. Roy and Hayley take Fiz's daughter, Hope, and Tyrone Dobbs' (Alan Halsall) baby girl Ruby to the park, Christian arrives and asks Anna where Hayley is. By 1995 he was living by himself at the Crimea Street flats . Hayley and Roy then sit down as talk about Hayley's final days, where she tells Roy that she intends to end her own life when the cancer spreads. It wasn't until 2009 that Hayley took on a greater significance in her life; when Carla's husband Tony Gordon made a deathbed confession to arranging the murder of Liam Connor to Roy, only to recover, Roy became obsessed with exposing him. For the duration of. She trained as an actress in London before returning to Manchester. The letter stirred up some painful childhood memories of abandonment, but with Hayley's encouragement Roy took a trip to Blackburn to meet St. John. Hayley is shocked when Christian turns violent and starts pushing her for the money. One instance where this was a problem was when the Croppers were interviewed to assess their suitability as foster parents in December 2000. In desperation, Hayley and Roy hatched a plan to catch a ferry to Ireland, before coming to their senses and opting to turn themselves in and put their faith in the British justice system. The couple finally married on 30 August 2010 at a stately home in Cheshire, and almost everyone but the bride arrived by steam train. Although devoted to Hayley, Roy could sometimes be insensitive. Hayley did so, but was very troubled by deciding to get involved, and told the police about the fake letter when Angela was arrested for her husband's murder. She usually wore a shirt and cardigan with a skirt, short hair, and for all of her sixteen years in the Street, she wore the same red anorak. In 2011, when Fiz was on remand for murders which John had committed, she asked the Croppers to look after her daughter Hope until she was transferred to the Mother and Baby unit in prison. Mary Taylor (Patti Clare) intervenes in the wedding preparations and, after weeks of muscling in, Hayley and Roy tell her they do not want her to be a part of the wedding, despite Hayley wearing her vintage wedding dress. Chesney thought the Croppers would be a soft touch and laid it on with stories about how neglected he was at home. When she met Roy in 1998, a kinship was developed as they were both lonely, introspective people. What happened to Anne Malone in Coronation Street? Later that year, they supported her when she had her miscarriages, and it was on Hayley's advice that the McDonalds turned to adoption. Hayley and Roy shared many interests and activities. Why then should this fictional character have a place in any list of famous or influential trans people? In their final conversation, Hayley and Roy reminisced about the past, with Hayley telling Roy that she knew what it was to be loved thanks to him, after which she downed the cocktail and passed away in Roy's arms. The following year was relatively quiet for the Croppers. Transgender groups were also largely unhappy with the storyline, and found Hayley's original character traits, as written, clichd and ill-informed. That's all they told me. [1] She was married to Roy Cropper (David Neilson). The idea of introducing a transgender character came about during a story meeting, when the writing team were discussing the possible introduction of Coronation Street's first homosexual character. Alex then stunned them by offering to sell Wayne to them for 10,000, which he lowered to 5,000, eager for them to accept. "[7][8] The character of Hayley Cropper is around four years older than Hesmondhalgh. For a few weeks, they lived in fear of Alex, Social Services and the police, finding little comfort in the fact that they were doing it to protect Wayne. Roy tries one last time to stop Hayley but she is adamant. Hayley's theatrical bent extended to singing, with her singing Abba on stage along Deirdre Rachid, Linda Sykes and Janice Battersby at the Street's Millennium party in 2000. On her last day, Hayley prepared a lethal cocktail, instructing Roy not to touch it, and ironed Roy's best shirt for the funeral. Anne Malone froze to death when she was accidentally locked in a freezer at Freshcos while gaining revenge on Curly Watts for rejecting her. She names him George Michael, after the singer. What do you think about that?' The decision to hang up Hayley's red anorak was a tough one, but doing the play at the Royal Exchange last year made me realise that there's life in the old dog yet (!) The woman that inspired Coronation Street's Hayley Cropper has spoken publicly about being transgender for the first time. Roy and Hayley are told that the operation if successful should last six hours. She passed away with Roy at her side, but she left behind a husband who felt betrayed and abandoned, who was now without his soulmate. With Carla's support, Hayley told Roy and Sylvia about the cancer. Disapproving of lies, Roy insists Hayley tell Christian the truth about how they are related and Hayley does but Christian does not react well and storms off. He says she could live up to about six months to a year. The result of this was the tabling, in 2004, of the Gender Recognition Act, granting trans people full legal status in their acquired sex. Eager to give Wayne a sense of normality, they agreed to go on a camping trip with Martin Platt, Sally Webster and their children, but they were tracked down by Alex, who had heard about Hayley's sexuality from Les Battersby. Hayley was also loyal to Alma. Hayley gets fed up with people being sympathetic so she and Roy go on holiday before her operation to remove her tumour. All the pain they had gone through was forgotten as Hayley and Roy began a new life with their daughter, whom they named Patience Cropper. A police search for the couple ensued, with the papers reporting them as kidnappers and painting Alex as a concerned stepfather. Transgender campaigners were initially upset that a cisgender woman had been chosen for the part but later praised Hesmondhalgh's dedication and sensitivity. David Neilson has appeared to confirm he wont return as Roy Cropper on Coronation Street. I think the whole thing has been incredibly positive." Enjoying making a difference to people's lives, Hayley decided to do voluntary work at the church, although restrictions were placed on her due to her being a transsexual and she was only allowed to work with ex-offenders. In her final week, Tyrone takes Hayley to the salon for a makeover although Roy wanted her to stay at home and rest. When Hayley decided to end her own life when diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer, Roy refused to support her, seeing it as selfish on her part to take herself away from him, cherishing every possible second he could spend with her. The Croppers reunited, but the incident only made both parties more entrenched in their positions on Hayley's suicide plot. On 11 January 2013, it was announced that Hesmondhalgh would leave Coronation Street at the end of her contract. In May 2013, Sylvia's friend Dorothy passed on a letter for Roy, from his estranged father, St. John Cropper, asking him to get in touch. On hearing that Hayley didn't have anyone else in her life, Alma and Mike Baldwin held a dinner party with Hayley, Curly, Audrey Roberts and Roy Cropper as guests, but the intention to matchmake Hayley and Curly was obvious and embarrassed the pair. It is also alleged that the resultant public support for this fictional character went in favour of the Bill. Blackburn: "This is a very sensitive issue and we will be exploring the effects of her decision on husband Roy who has a huge emotional and moral dilemma over her choice to die this way." Though she asked only for his friendship, Roy took the news badly and asked her to leave him alone. But doing the play at the Royal Exchange last year made me realise that there's life in the old dog yet. In 2009, David Neilson, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Katherine Kelly starred in direct-to-DVD spin-off Coronation Street: Romanian Holiday, shot on location in Romania. Hayley Cropper was created in 1998. Hayley was run off her feet looking after Hope but was sad when the time came to give her up. Meeting with Christian on the pretence of showing him where Harold's ashes were scattered, Hayley finally told Christian that she was Harold. When her father had an accident, Hayley became her dad's home carer and what life she had outside the house was reduced to nothing. They saw through his scheme but even their regular attentive method of parenting were beyond what Chesney was used to at home. In January 2001, the Croppers were accepted as foster parents and received their first foster child: Jackie Mosley, who stayed for two weeks while her mother was in hospital. In Roy, Hayley had found someone who was similarly set apart from the world around him, and although Roy had trouble expressing his feelings, he greatly enjoyed Hayley's company. Hayley's prognosis was devastating for the Croppers and their close friends, with Roy constantly fussing over her and trying to keep her from tiring herself. In most aspects of their lives, they were a team, for example in their volunteer work and becoming first aiders. Upon her return, she faced the disgust of the residents, Hayley among them, although Hayley was one of the first to forgive Carla. The following day, Hayley collapses and Fiz calls an ambulance to take Hayley to hospital. In 2004, Roy bought Hayley an old globe and suggested they travel the world, starting with Kent, although they were tired out by one day's travelling and sold their camper van to Harry Flagg. For their on-screen partnership, Julie Hesmondhalgh and David Neilson received a British Soap Award in 1999 and 2004. When I got the scripts for those episodes I read them like a novel, all five episodes back to back I found it absolutely thrilling. (Fifty Years). Once there, Hayley sees Carla bound and gagged but Robbie pulls out a gun on her before she can escape, and ties her to a chair too. In 2009, Hayley was tempted back to the factory when Tony Gordon offered her the position of manager in his absence, although with the return of co-owner Carla Connor, Hayley returned to her old machinist/supervisor role. Royston "Roy" Cropper is the proprietor of Roy's Rolls cafe in Victoria Street and husband of the late Hayley Cropper.. Roy was an oddball child who received little support from his mother, Sylvia.He left home at a young age to escape his hated stepfather Roger Goodwin and spent his working life catering in hotels and restaurants. While minister Jessica Lundy and Spider Nugent kept the reporters occupied, Emily intercepted the wedding party and told them to turn around. Hayley regretted her harsh words and she and Becky soon made up. Christian brings Sam and Maisie to the caf and Maisie is intrigued by Roy's train collection, while Hayley and Christian talk upstairs. 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