Hayley Cropper

Hayley Cropper
Coronation Street character
Portrayed by	Julie Hesmondhalgh
Duration	1998–2014
First appearance	Episode 4341 26 January 1998
Last appearance	Episode 8306 22 January 2014
Classification	Former; regular
Introduced by	Brian Park
Spin-off appearances	Coronation Street: Romanian Holiday (2009) "East Street" (2010)
In-universe information Occupation Factory supervisor Café Waitress Father Harry Patterson Mother Maggie Patterson Husband Roy Cropper (2010–2014) Sons Christian Gatley Adoptive daughters Fiz Brown (foster) Grandsons Sam Gatley Granddaughters Maisie Gatley Aunts Monica Patterson Barbara Morgan Other relatives Bert

Hayley Cropper (also Hayley Patterson) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh. The character first appeared in the episode first broadcast on 26 January 1998. Hayley was the first transgender character in a British soap opera and was the first permanent transgender character in the world of serialised drama.^[1] She was married to Roy Cropper (David Neilson). After nearly ten years on the show, Hesmondhalgh decided to take another break for a year in order to spend more time with her family. She left on 22 October 2007 and returned on 17 November 2008.

Hesmondhalgh won numerous awards for her portrayal of Hayley, but announced her departure from the show on 11 January 2013.^[2] Her final scenes were filmed on 18 November 2013 ^[3] and aired on 22 January 2014.^[4] In the episode, Hayley takes her own life, after living with terminal pancreatic cancer. Hesmondhalgh has insisted that it was a "right to die" storyline not 'an assisted suicide' storyline.^[5] Hayley's funeral aired on 31 January 2014.

Hesmondhalgh's portrayal of Hayley, and her on-screen chemistry with fellow actor David Neilson, encouraged the writers to allow the character to evolve from a brief love interest for Roy to a popular long-term character. Hayley would go on to spend 16 years on Coronation Street, always seeing the good in people and nurturing Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine) and Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly) from troubled young women to kind, caring, individuals. In her later years, Hayley formed an unlikely, yet notably close, friendship with Carla Connor (Alison King) and although it was obvious the pair were from completely different walks of life, they came to respect and care for each other.