Cathy Matthews

Catherine "Cathy" Christine Wendy Matthews is the widow of Alan Matthews who died in 2014. Following his death she became a compulsive hoarder. In April 2015 Cathy met Roy Cropper and eventually began dating him. In early 2016, Cathy learned that Alan had cheated on her with her sister, Nessa Warner. In May of that year, Cathy proposed to Roy but was turned down, soon afterwards she was run over by Carla Connor but luckily survived the horrific incident.

Cathy and Alan had no children as a couple, but she does share a close bond with her nephew, Alex Warner, whom Alan was the father of.

Biography
Cathy's husband Alan had worked an adjoining allotment plot to the one shared by Sharif Nazir and Roy Cropper. The two men were in their usual dispute about what they planted and this time it was over spearmint. Sharif threw his unwanted plant onto the next door but overgrown plot, annoying Cathy who had just walked up. Sharif apologised and Roy offered their services to clean up the ground as a form of apology. When she returned later, much progress had been made on the work. Cathy apologised for her previous anger, telling them that she hadn't been having a good day. Sharif was shattered after his extra effort but Roy stayed behind to continue. He later shared a cup of tea from his flask with her and she told him about Alan who had died a year before and his pride in the allotment, finding sanity in its peace and quiet from his council job as a customer complaint's officer. A day later, Cathy was not so happy when she overheard Roy and Sharif talking about taking over Cathy's plot, Roy only thinking of proposing the matter to her, and she angrily tore a strip off the two men.

She came into Roy's Rolls a few days later to talk to Roy but for some reason lost her nerve and left hurriedly. Almost a month passed by before she returned, offering to sell Roy her late husband’s elderflower cordial but the sample she brought had turned alcoholic. Upset, she left again only to return to apologise for her behaviour. Roy realised that she couldn't afford the £30 allotment fees and offered her several hours paid work to earn the sum rather than lose her dignity with a charitable offer.

Roy continued his friendship with Cathy who continued to frequent the cafe. When Fiz Stape returned to Weatherfield after an absence of six months nursing her sick mother, she met and took a liking to Cathy but both she and Tyrone Dobbs started to become suspicious of Cathy's stories about her freezer and boiler packing up and considered the woman's behaviour to be strange. After a visit from bailiffs, Roy found out that not only was Cathy in debt but she was also a compulsive hoarder, her house being packed with so many items from her life that there was literally nowhere to sit. He tried to persuade her to change her habits but became insistent after a pile of debris in her living room fell on her, trapping her beneath. Luckily Roy soon came around to her place and rescued her.



In January 2016 Cathy told her sister, Nessa Warner, that her New Year's resolution would be to de-clutter the rest of her home. Nessa - who didn't believe that she would be able to do such a thing - told her that if she managed to get a car boot-full she would cook Cathy and Roy a meal over at No.1. While sorting through late-husband Alan's paperwork, Roy discovered some old love letters from Nessa. Surprised by this discovery, Roy decided to not tell Cathy in the fear that it would break the already fragile woman. Roy confronted Nessa about the discovery, who begged Roy to help her dispose of the damning letters. As they entered Cathy's living room, they saw a tearful Cathy at Alan's desk holding the letters. Cathy decided to call time on her relationship with Roy due to the fact that he knew about the affair but didn't tell her. Cathy later disposed of the letters by setting them on fire in a bin but she briefly left the room and by the time she returned, the flames had gone out of control. Roy and Nessa called round at the house to apologise, and as they spotted the blaze, Roy went inside to rescue a trapped Cathy as Nessa telephoned for the emergency services. Following Cathy's near death experience, Nessa departed from Weatherfield.

In May, Cathy decided to propose to Roy after Anna Windass and nephew Alex convinced her to do so. The night Cathy planned to propose to Roy was also the time as Nick Tilsley and Carla Connor's wedding. Although the ceremony did take place, even after the revelation from Tracy Barlow that Carla had slept with her boyfriend Robert Preston and subsequently financially helped Robert buy Nick's Bistro, Nick had a change of heart at the reception and announced he would annul their marriage. A broken Carla asked Roy to fetch his car. In the street, Cathy stopped him in his tracks and got down on one knee and asked him to marry her. Roy, who was worried about Carla simply replied "no" and ran off the fetch his vehicle. A shell-shocked Cathy told Alex about what happened, who suggested that they bought chocolates at the Corner Shop. Just as they left the shop tragedy occurred when Carla accidentally ran Cathy over. She was flung into the air and sent flying into the wall of the Corner Shop. Cathy was rushed to Weatherfield General and admitted for observation and treatment, with Roy by her side. She was discharged from hospital a few days later, although somewhat on edge thinking Roy was going to break up with her as he hadn't spoken about what had occurred moments before the accident. As the couple went for a walk on the Red Rec, Roy accepted her proposal of marriage.

Other information

 * Cathy's sister Nessa has a son named Alex, who came to visit his aunt in September 2015.Cathy_artpiece.jpg
 * Cathy is a talented artist and occasionally teaches art classes at Jamila House Community Centre.