Coronation Street star Bill Roache's heartbreaking confession about daughter before death

Bill Roache made a heartbreaking confession about his daughter before her tragic death in 2018. The Coronation Street actor, 93, best known for playing Ken Barlow on the ITV soap, was left heartbroken after Vanya Roache died suddenly from liver failure at the age of 50. Vanya was Bill's eldest daughter from his first marriage to actress Anna Cropper.

The former couple were married from 1961 until 1974 and also share a son named Linus Roache, now 61. Bill tied the knot with his second wife, Sara Mottram, in 1978 and they went on to welcome two children; daughter Verity, 44, and son James, 39. Their other daughter, Edwina, died from pneumonia at just 18 months old in 1984. In his autobiography Soul on the Street, published in 2010, Bill opened up about his fractured relationship with his children.

Admitting that he wished he'd been more present as a father, he wrote: "I am not proud of myself. There is a certain unhappiness that I missed out as a father the first time."

Bill, who is the longest-serving cast member in Coronation Street, added: "I'm very close to Linus now, which is great, but unfortunately I don't see my daughter."

Despite their fractured relationship, Vanya confirmed they were back in contact after she shared a message of support for him.

She wrote on Facebook: "My beautiful family, wonderful father and a very happy and truthful day." Toby Evans, Vanya's partner at the time, said she died "suddenly" from organ failure, caused by a blood disorder.

He confirmed Bill and his daughter were on good terms before her death, saying: "She was close with him before she died. Bill's been down all weekend and we've been arranging the funeral."

A few months after Vanya's death, Bill revealed he managed to get over the grief in days. Opening up about the mourning process, he told : "If I grieve, it's because I miss her and that's negative. And where she is, she'll pick up on that, so I send her my love.

The soap star continued: "After the death of the physical body, the soul returns to heaven, which is our eternal home. Vanya has gone to a far better, happier place, and I don't need to grieve for her."

He added: "Of course, for the first few days after her death, it was natural to grieve, but within a week I got over it because I know she's in a beautiful place reunited with other loved ones. Death is something we can look forward to because we'll be going back to our eternal home and will be closer to source, to love."