Alec Gilroy Alexander " Alec " Gilroy was a theatrical agent who had two stints as landlord of the Rovers Return . Alec ' s first wife was Joyce , with whom he had a daughter , Sandra , in 1958 . In 1971 , he became estranged from Joyce and Sandra , and concentrated on his career , managing clubs and artistes , including singer Rita Littlewood . In 1986 , he was managing the Graffiti Club in Rosamund Street when he had a dalliance with Bet Lynch , then - landlady of the Rovers . He claimed not to be interested in the Rovers but when Bet couldn ' t afford the tenancy on her own , Alec proposed marriage to her so that they could run the pub together , and Bet accepted . Alec was happy with Bet but they were rather an odd couple ; Bet was bold and brassy , while Alec was morose and miserly . Theirs was a marriage of convenience but while they came to love each other , they had different outlooks and goals in life and in 1992 , when he was offered the job of MC on a cruise ship , Bet refused to relocate to Southampton with him , and Alec told Bet their marriage was over . Alec returned to Weatherfield in 1996 and spent a year running the local branch of Sunliners Travel Agency . After being made redundant , he bought into the Rovers , gradually edging partners Jack and Vera Duckworth out of the business until he had total control . In 1998 , a tired and weary Alec sold the Rovers to Natalie Barnes to go into partnership with granddaughter Vicky McDonald at a wine bar in Brighton . Biography . 1935 - 1971 : Putting on an act . Alexander Gilroy was the younger of two children born to Reg and Mabel Gilroy at 4 Back Gas Street , on the rough side of Weatherfield . Growing up , Alexander ( or " Alec " as he preferred ) and his sister Edna became accustomed to the house ' s peculiar smell which was caused by fumes from the local gasworks , where Reg worked as a stoker , and the lingering odour from Tasker ' s Glue Factory clinging to Mabel ' s clothes . At fourteen , Alec left school to go into grafting , but he was never destined to follow in his father ' s footsteps . Edna could belt out a tune , and not one to be outperformed by his own sister , Alec built up an act using trained ferrets . Performing as a duo with Edna at any venue that would have them , Alec ' s first foray into showbusiness ended when Edna got married , and after a particularly raucous evening at the Weatherfield Rugby Club , Alec ' s ferrets were set free . Remaining in the showbusiness game , Alec moved backstage with a job at the Weatherfield Majestic . It was here that he honed his craft as a talent scout , bolstering the Majestic ' s roster of speciality acts with a keen eye for talent , and negotiating skills to match . Alec became known locally for his ability to pluck a performer from obscurity and have them on stage that same day . One of his acts was Harry " Bing " Crosby , who played a musical saw . Harry was assisted backstage by his daughter Joyce , who on meeting Alec was swept away by his tales of showbusiness and the big time . Thinking he ' d found his Mrs . Gilroy , Alec popped the question , and in 1955 the couple were married . Alec ' s rise to the top continued when he was promoted to front of house and in 1958 Alec and Joyce ' s daughter Sandra was born . Unfortunately , in wider circles , Alec ' s success at the Majestic amounted to little more than a blip . Alec had joined the industry at a time when all good talent was deserting variety in favour of television and cabaret , and although his farmyard impressionists and balloon benders were an improvement on the slackwire acts and strong women who tore up telephone books , Alec was powerless against the changing tide , and in 1971 the Majestic was turned into a bingo hall . An unemployed Alec also faced the end of a marriage , as Joyce , seeking a more glamorous life , ran off with footballer Stan Shaw , taking thirteen - year - old Sandra with her . Alec maintained minimal contact with Joyce , and didn ' t see Sandra again for many years , putting his heartbreak behind him by concentrating on his career . 1972 - 1985 : Alec Gilroy presents . In 1972 , Alec tried his hand at club management , taking over the Working Men ' s Club in Victoria Street when it was opened in June of that year . One of the acts Alec booked for opening night was singer Rita Littlewood , who at that point was back on the club circuit after leaving her common - law husband Harry Bates . The night ' s entertainment went down well , with Alec telling Len Fairclough over a drink that he was keen to hire Rita again . Having taken a shine to Rita , Len tipped her off her about Alec wanting her back , allowing her to get more money out of him . After three years toiling in working men ' s clubs , Alec was still as penniless as the day he started in Victoria Street , when at last his chance came . At eighty years old , talent agent legend Joe Bluntstone was retiring , which meant his agency of 100 + acts would soon be on the market . Alec offered the man 50 % of the agency ' s takings for the rest of his life , in exchange for Alec getting the rest with no money down . A week after Joe accepted the deal , he dropped dead . While basking in his good fortune , Alec encountered Rita Littlewood in the Rovers Return , and persuaded her to sign with the Bluntstone Gilroy Organisation ( later renamed Alec Gilroy Presents ) , with Ernest Bishop as her pianist . Rita and Ernie played together at a number of venues in the latter half of 1975 , after which her singing career once again died a death . After Joe ' s death , Alec found his acts gradually deserting him , having only stayed on out of loyalty to Joe . Within a few short years he had only novelty acts left on his books , and he was forced to take on additional work managing local night spots . In later years , Alec would describe 1981 as " a very bad time " for him . By the mid - 1980s , Alec was managing the Graffiti Club in Rosamund Street . The Graffiti Club was a Newton & Ridley venue , and Alec maintained a sideline of providing acts from his dwindling agency for entertainment at Newton & Ridley ' s establishments . 1986 - 1987 : Lynched . Originally a venture of Mike Baldwin and Alec Yardley aimed at the young and trendy crowd , the Graffiti Club ' s best days were behind it by the time of Alec ' s arrival ; the disco had closed down , and the bar area made the " Mary Celeste " look overcrowded . The club saw a revival of fortunes when the Rovers Return was closed following a devastating fire , with Alec poaching Jack Duckworth and Gloria Todd as bar staff . However , trade fell back to normal levels when the brewery opened a renovated Rovers , and Alec ' s new recruits abandoned him . Not that Alec minded ; his talent agency was once again thriving , and raising its profile was far more worthy of a man of Alec ' s skill than tending bar . Across the Street from the Graffifi , the Rovers Return was a backstreet boozer , managed by Bet Lynch , with whom Alec had established a friendly rivalry . In November 1986 , under pressure from the brewery to increase trade , Bet turned to Alec for artistes , but refused to pay his prices and held an open mike night instead . The night was a disaster , but Alec gained Bet ' s respect and friendship by giving her a special discount for a second night ' s entertainment , putting her back in favour with the brewery . Alec continued to visit the Rovers to discuss business with Bet , developing an attraction to the brassy barmaid at the same time . In fact , he spent more time at the Rovers than the Graffiti , and the brewery decided to sack him from the Graffiti - not that he minded . After an enjoyable night out with Bet , Alec told her that he hoped they had a future together , but , offended by Bet ' s insinuation that he was only interested in her because he wanted the Rovers , Alec walked out of her life . After going on a Spanish tour with a cabaret package , Alec returned to Weatherfield and resumed contact with Bet . At that point , she had just been offered the tenancy of the Rovers by Newton & Ridley , but was unable to get a loan with affordable repayments , and faced losing the pub . Keen to help , Alec loaned Bet the £12 , 000 she needed , asking her to keep the deal a secret from the brewery . Afterwards , he proved a handful for Bet , with his ordering the staff around and using the back room as his office causing her to remind her that the Rovers was hers . In May , Bet upped sticks , leaving behind a note for Alec blaming her disappearance on financial pressures . With Bet apparently untraceable , Alec tried to recover his money from the brewery , but his ally in the brewery , Cecil Newton , could only offer him the measly position of temporary manager in lieu of the tenancy being bought over . With his money tied up in the pub , Alec had no choice but to accept , and became the Rovers ' seventh licensee . As the Rovers ' most sour - faced landlord yet took control , he wasted no time in putting his mark on the place . Out went Betty Turpin , who resigned when Alec kept watching her like a hawk when she so much as walked past the till , and in came Margo Richardson , a hand - picked barmaid replacement . Finally , in August , Bet got in touch with the brewery to arrange the repayment of the money , returning the tenancy to Newton & Ridley . As his financial arrangement was with Bet , Alec was told by Cecil Newton that it was up to him to contact her and get his money back . With only the knowledge that she was working at a bar in Torremolinos to go on , Alec flew out to Spain to track her down , leaving Gloria in charge of the Rovers . After spending the day searching hundreds of bars , Alec found Bet waiting tables at Mac ' s Bar . After initially fussing about his money , Alec surprised Bet by being gentle with her , showing concern that she didn ' t feel able to confide in him . When Bet lamented her failure as a landlady , Alec made the radical suggestion that they buy the tenancy together and run the Rovers as man and wife . The suggestion stunned Bet , who , knowing Alec , understood that this was as much a declaration of feelings as it was a business proposition , and although disappointed that his motivation hadn ' t been entirely romantic , she accepted his proposal , and the couple immediately returned home . Back in Weatherfield , Alec and Bet successfully lobbied for the Rovers tenancy , and set a date of 9th September for the wedding , at All Saints Church . Their engagement stunned friends and neighbours , with some expecting them to come to their senses and cancel , including Alec ' s best man Charles Halliday , who spent the stag night trying to put the bridegroom off marriage . However , the wedding went ahead without a hitch , and as a wedding present Alec told Bet the Rovers was hers . 1987 - 1989 : A marriage of convenience . A period of adjustment followed for the Gilroys . Their relationship having been mostly business beforehand , it wasn ' t until they got married that they really got to know each other , and their histories ; after finding out that Bet had previously shared a house with Mike Baldwin and not told him , Alec felt he was the butt of the customers ' jokes , and responded by making cracks about his wife ' s promiscuity , causing the couple to fall out . After a few days not speaking to each other , Alec made up with Bet , admitting that his trust issues were due to his incredulity at being married to her . In early 1988 , Bet broke the news to Alec that she was pregnant at forty - seven . Both were anxious about being parents at their ages , especially Alec to whom children were an alien species , but the thought of having a son or daughter who would be theirs saw them warm to the idea . Sadly , Bet had a miscarriage a few days later . The Gilroys mourned their baby together , admitting how much it had come to mean to them in that short space of time . Alec kept up his theatrical work , and was often seen negotiating with friends in the business using the phone in the Rovers hallway . In October 1987 , Alec was asked to assemble a troupe to entertain the British Army in Germany , resulting in his absence from the Rovers for a few weeks . In July 1988 , he set up his " friend " Gus Ferris with a duff act ( Jack Duckworth ) to put him in lumber with Margery Smith at the Old Band Club , causing Margery to drop Gus and come to Alec for acts in future . Alec kept Bet out of his agency business , not even telling her how much money he was making from the enterprise ; when he was mugged on his way to the bank in September 1988 , and his briefcase containing the weekend ' s takings plus his club earnings , Bet was stunned to learn that it amounted to £2 , 134 , and offered him help to spend all that money ! The insurance company paid out on Alec ' s losses from the mugging but his financial problems were to continue . In January 1989 , Wally Simpson offered Alec the job of managing a nine - week tour of the Middle East . He was going to accept , but when Bet showed her jealousy of his friendship with Megan Morgan ( aka Tanya the Exotic Dancer ) , who was also going on the trip , he decided to turn down the tour . Immediately afterwards , Alec ' s accountant Bernie Greenwood informed him that the Inland Revenue was onto him about his tax returns - due to Newton & Ridley disclosing his payments on his entertainment work for them , the tax office suspected Alec had undeclared earnings . Faced with the alternative of shopping his artistes who hadn ' t paid tax , and therefore losing his standing in the business , Alec did the unthinkable and paid £8 , 000 in unpaid tax on his artistes ' behalf . To recover funds , Alec accepted the Middle East tour after all and departed right away . In May , Alec returned home from the tour three weeks early , planning to surprise Bet , but instead he found the staff running the Rovers and Bet nowhere to be found . Bet had gone out with Paul Rigby , husband of her friend Stella , and returned with him at midnight . Cross words were exchanged as Alec sent Paul packing and accused Bet of being unfaithful in his absence - Paul was a well - known womaniser and Alec refused to believe their dalliance was innocent , although Bet swore that there was nothing in it . Hoping to prompt a confession , Alec demanded a divorce , but instead Bet hit back at him by consulting a solicitor , asking for a divorce on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour . A battle of wills then followed between man and wife ; Alec fired Bet from the Rovers and told Stella what had been going on behind her back , causing Stella to fall out with Bet , while Bet put off Alec ' s new housekeeper Mrs Hargreaves by telling her Alec was a sex maniac . However , Alec was mistaken in his belief that Bet had shopped him to the brewery when Nigel Ridley got wind of their marital problems - having actually been informed by Jack Duckworth , who wanted to take over the Rovers himself . When he accused Bet , Alec was surprised by her defeated attitude , and finally lowered his guard and admitted that he ' d got it wrong , allowing the couple to make peace . Their reconciliation was heralded by a much - delayed honeymoon in Spain . 1989 - 1991 : The Gilroy connection . Later that year , the sudden death of an old act , Frankie Radcliffe , got Alec thinking about the his own legacy , and , feeling the shame of his absence from Sandra ' s life , he decided to track down his now grown - up daughter . Getting her address from Joyce , Alec found Sandra living in a massive house in Handforth , Cheshire , now married to solicitor Tim Arden , and mother to twelve - year - old Victoria . Tim and Victoria responded well to Alec but Sandra was merely shocked , giving no immediate impression whether she would welcome Alec back into her life . Giddy at the reunion , Alec made plans to get re - acquainted with his daughter , and having received an invite to her birthday party by Tim , dragged a nervous Bet along . Alec was aware that Bet had mixed feelings about the whole affair , so when she told him that she ' d overheard Sandra telling Tim that she didn ' t want Alec there , he didn ' t believe her , despite her words being supported by the fact that Sandra hadn ' t made the effort to speak to Alec at the party . Hoping for something more intimate , Alec invited the Ardens to a meal at the Rovers , but when Sandra arrived , it was to tell Alec that she didn ' t want him to be a part of her life - he ' d stayed away so long that his return meant nothing to her . A heartbroken Alec decided to respect Sandra ' s wishes , but Bet had a word with her and she agreed not to cut him off . Backing off , Alec contented himself with the occasional visit . In May 1990 , the Gilroys faced their biggest crisis yet . With Cecil Newton retiring , Nigel Ridley made plans to turn the Rovers into Yankees , a New York - style theme bar , expanding into 1 Coronation Street which Deirdre Barlow had agreed to sell to the brewery . Having previewed the new bar and decided it wasn ' t for them , the Gilroys tried to oppose the move , causing Nigel to order them out of the Rovers . With the support of the neighbours , Alec and Bet protested by locking down the pub , with Alec at one point bodily ejecting Nigel from the premises . The story made waves in the local press , with the " Gazette " interviewing the Gilroys about their eviction and the local radio station interviewing them from the upstairs window . However , it was a battle the Gilroys were doomed to lose , and the brewery eventually came to repossess the pub . Alec and Bet were moments away from eviction when Cecil Newton arrived and , reminding Nigel that he was still on the board , told him that he ' d put a stop to his " foolish young ideas " , and that the Rovers was to stay as it was , with Alec and Bet being kept on . Alec celebrated with free drinks all round - before putting the prices up the next day . Alec still hoped to make his fortune and he knew he would never make a penny running the Rovers . In February 1991 , he decided to go into business with Phil Jennings , setting up a club in the empty Graffiti building . Alec became so keen on the idea that he planned to sell the Rovers tenancy to go in with Phil , as he was only able to get a £30 , 000 loan from the bank , and together they came up with " The Al - Phi - Bet Club " as a name . However , Phil suddenly dumped the Gilroys , telling Alec he couldn ' t let them risk everything . The club never opened it doors but Alec still felt the need to retaliate and , remembering Deirdre selling them out to the brewery , managed Alf Roberts ' s council election campaign when he was standing against Deirdre , with Phil managing her campain . Alf was successfully re - elected , reclaiming his council seat from Deirdre . In July , Sandra informed Alec that Joyce had passed away . Alec decided not to attend the funeral , and instead look after Victoria while Sandra and Tim were at the funeral in Whitby . Alec and Bet were just about to leave to collect Victoria when a policeman called at the Rovers to break the news that the Ardens had both been killed in a car crash in Whitby . Alec told Victoria the news himself , and after a period of grief by both parties , discussion turned to Vicky ' s care . As Alec was her closest surviving relative , Vicky was placed at the Rovers , despite her wish to be among friends in Handforth . Vicky spent the weeks before going back to boarding school dejected and resentful of her dingy surroundings in Weatherfield , struggling to find common ground with her grandparents . 1991 - 1996 : Alec sets sail . Alec yearned for more glamorous surroundings , and in November a job for Sunglobe Shipping Company supplying six artistes for a cruise became much more when his chosen Master of Ceremonies , Archie Archer , dropped out , and Alec decided to take on the job himself , seeing it as a stepping stone to greater things . Bet stiffly opposed the idea , angry at the thought of Alec abandoning her over Christmas and New Year to go on holiday . After failing to win Bet over by laying on an early Christmas dinner , Alec left for Southampton to board his ship . While on the cruise , Alec befriended Cherie Watkins , who was related to a director of the shipping company , and told her he was a widower so as not to put off the woman who was clearly interested in him . Just before Christmas , Bet summoned Alec home , however he claimed to be too busy . When he returned home in early January , he discovered that Bet had got a past love of hers , Des Foster , to decorate their bedroom , and that Des had tried it , resulting in Bet having to fight him off . Alec was initially skeptical but he believed Bet when she showed him the bruises she got fighting Des off , and with the truth out in the open Alec agreed to drop the subject . Shortly afterwards , it was Alec ' s turn to explain himself , when Bet intercepted a postcard from Cherie Watkins . Bet invited Cherie to tea and forced Alec to confess her the truth about being a widower by playing the role of Alec ' s mother ( as Cherie had assumed she was when she heard she was " Mrs . Gilroy " ) , by bossing " little Alec " about , much to the embarrassment of both Alec and Cherie . Alec didn ' t expect to hear from Sunglobe again but in August , they contacted him out of the blue to ask him to manage their entertainment full - time , a job which would entail relocating to Southampton . Alec didn ' t need asking twice - the Rovers was neither fulfilling nor rewarding - and broke the news to his stunned wife , telling her he wanted to take it but that it would be a joint decision . Bet felt the pull of the Rovers , having worked there for 22 years , but after seeing Alec at his happiest in years , she agreed to go along with his plans . Alec then busiest himself with arrangements , selling the Rovers tenancy back to the brewery and announcing their departure to the regulars . However , on the day of departure , a forlorn Bet told her disbelieving husband that she was staying behind , and remaining at the Rovers as manager , having accepted initially only for his sake . Refusing to see his wife ' s point of view , Alec reacted angrily , accusing Bet of trying to blackmail him into staying and stifling his career . But Bet knew that Alec would still go , and as Alec drove off , he told Bet sternly that even though he was leaving , she was the one walking out on him . Settling into his new life , Alec accepted the demise of his marriage but he was so hurt by Bet ' s betrayal that he refused to get involved with another woman except for companionship . In 1994 , Vicky left school and the following January she turned eighteen , whereupon she inherited her parents ' fortune . As she ' d moved in with Bet , Alec was absent throughout her financial dealings with ex - boyfriend Steve McDonald . Vicky had invested in Steve ' s print business Dun 2 A T and ended up losing money , but she remained with Steve as she hoped to drive him away from his girlfriend Fiona Middleton . In July , Vicky and Steve announced their engagement , and fearing that Steve - who had a history of messing Vicky about - was only after her for her money , Bet summoned Alec from Southampton . Returning to the Rovers for the first time in nearly three years , Alec teamed up with Bet to stop the wedding , although Alec ' s measures were more underhanded , such as asking Steve ' s debtor Frank Mottram to lean heavily on Steve , and inventing a clause in the Ardens ' will which would give Alec control of Vicky ' s finances . In the end , Vicky and Steve fled to St . Lucia to marry there , and as an unusually sentimental Alec prepared to return to Southampton , he asked Bet if she would have him back . Though she ' d enjoyed their reunion , Bet knew that he hadn ' t really changed and gently turned down his request . The following year , Alec had to move on from the cruises after clashing with his new boss , who ' d been promoted over his head . Taking the position of manager of the Weatherfield branch of Sunglobe , now renamed Sunliners Travel Agency , Alec returned to his old stomping grounds . 1996 - 2002 : Alec ' s greatest hits . Alec had traded Coronation Street for a life on the seas and he returned to Weatherfield full of bluster about his grand lifestyle , enthusing to Vicky and Steve about his " promotion " up north when he arrived in April 1996 . Taking permanent lodgings at a B & B at 15 Park Road , run by ex - chorus girl Jessie Wilcox , Alec took control of the shop , recruiting Deirdre Rachid as an assistant and Joyce Smedley as cleaner . Sadly , his diminished circumstances were plain for all to see as former staff and customers visited his dump of a workplace . By the time of Alec ' s return , Bet had resigned from the Rovers and left the area , and within a few weeks Vicky too moved on , taking a hotel management course in Lausanne , Switzerland , after a messy breakup with Steve which saw Steve jailed for two years for handling stolen whiskey and perverting the course of justice after trying to put the blame on Vicky . After Vicky ' s departure , Alec bought 12 Coronation Street flat above the Kabin . He still avoided getting too serious with women but he wasn ' t adverse to marrying if the right one came along , as he explained to Joyce Smedley , with whom he had rapidly become friends . Joyce agreed to accompany Alec on a break to the Lake District , where they slept in separate rooms , and was disappointed when Alec didn ' t make a move , but they reached an understanding when Alec explained to her how he ' d been hurt in the past . Their friendship ended when Alec caught Joyce stealing from the Rovers and the travel agents , and sacked her when she threatened to blackmail him for having her invoice Sunliners for cleaning his flat . If Sunliners wasn ' t the most invigorating workplace , Alec at least had more time to put into his agency . He hoped to find an act that would take him to the big time and started his search in Coronation Street , nurturing Fiona Middleton as a singer and Roy Cropper with his perfect memory . However , neither performer wanted to work with Alec and they had to go to extreme measures to put him off . At Christmas , while Jack Duckworth was in hospital , Alec helped Vera out at the Rovers , which was now under Duckworth ownership . Vera swore Alec to secrecy , but Jack found out anyway and warned Alec to stay away from the Rovers and Vera . Made redundant from Sunliners the following May , Alec began sniffing around the Rovers , advising Rita against a 50 / 50 partnership with the Duckworths before offering them one himself for £17 , 000 . With a VAT bill of £17 , 650 to settle , Jack got £25 , 000 out of Alec , with Alec ceding the accommodation to the Duckworths . It was an unprecedented partnership with no trust on either side , but unlike Jack and Vera who feared Alec was trying to push them out of the Rovers , Alec only had to worry about the Duckworths not pulling their weight . The relationship got off to a bad start , with Vera changing the locks upon finding out about the deal after her return from a holiday in Morecambe . Alec and Jack has to pose as draymen to get back in . Alec ran rings round the Duckworths with ease , making them pay to hold their 40th wedding anniversary at their own pub and billing Jack for all the free drinks . Another of Alec ' s ventures was the Golden Years Agency , which offered escorts for companionship , although he was forced to lie low for a while when one of his clients , Babs Fanshawe , passed away during a meal with Ken Barlow . Since moving into the flat adjacent to Rita Sullivan ' s , Alec had become friendly with his former artiste , with Rita finally looking on him favourably after years of keeping him at arm ' s length . In July 1998 , when Rita was hospitalised with carbon monoxide poisoning , Alec felt responsible for her and tackled Steve McDonald about a gas fire he ' d installed which was the cause of Rita ' s illness . When Rita was back on her feet , Alec confessed his growing feelings for her and proposed , however she fell out with him when he reported Steve to the Health and Safety people against her wishes , accusing Alec of using her to get back at Steve for what he did to Vicky . Soon afterwards , Rita started becoming forgetful due to the after - effects of the poisoning , and again Alec came to the rescue , taking over the Kabin and arranging for her to visit Mavis Wilton in Cartmel . Seeing that Alec genuinely cared about her , Rita cooked him a meal to clear the air , however she became annoyed when he proposed again as she was happy with things the way they were . After a spat with the Duckworths , Alec decided to end the partnership and return to Southampton , but in a surprising turn of events , Rita agreed to marry him after all , and Alec pushed for full ownership of the Rovers , offering them £30 , 000 for their half of the pub with the promise of keeping them on as staff and allowing them to stay on in the living quarters . The Duckworths agreed , but once Alec had total control , he decided to fire them , only holding back because he knew that Rita would find it despicable . Meanwhile , he and Rita decided to live together instead of getting married , with Alec building a door between their two flats so that they could come and go as they pleased . As Christmas loomed , Vicky paid Alec a Yuletide visit and told him about her plans to buy a wine bar in Brighton . Meanwhile , annoyed at the Duckworths ' cheek at asking for Christmas off to visit their grandson Tommy in Blackpool , Alec decided to grant them the holiday and evict them from the Rovers in their absence . He had their belongings put in storage but , having been tipped off , Jack and Vera returned home on Christmas Eve and barricaded themselves in the living quarters . Alec decided to wait them out - they had to come down eventually - but when Rita told him that she was the one who warned the Duckworths as what he ' d done to them was cruel , Alec became dispirited and told Rita he didn ' t want to see her anymore . Realising he had nothing to stay in Weatherfield for , Alec accepted an offer by Natalie Barnes to buy the pub , using the money to go into partnership with Vicky . After boarding up the door in the flat , Alec left for Brighton , stopping only to congratulate the Duckworths on their much - earned victory . In 2002 , Bet returned to Weatherfield and told the residents that she and Alec had got a divorce . Personality . Alec entered the world of showbusiness as an artiste , performing onstage with ferrets . He honed his craft as a talent scout , learning to be savvy and devious enough to keep the Weatherfield Majestic supplied with acts . He dreamed of fame and fortune , but it never came , replaced with a stoic cynicism as he fought to survive in the dog - eat - dog world of showbusiness . Club management led naturally to the licenced trade and , eventually , the Rovers Return . He considered it a waste of his talent , but Alec ran the Rovers efficiently , treating the bar like a stage and putting the staff on their best behaviour , cracking the whip when required ( usually snarkily ) . He was a workaholic ; all of his time went towards running the pub , his agency , or meeting friends in the business . Bet even had to drag him away from his work to be physical with him . Alec was mean with money , and being a man so consumed by his work , he could come across as having no motive in life other than greed . He pocketed the wages of staff who no longer worked under him at the Rovers , and at Sunliners , he claimed Joyce Smedley ' s salary even after she ' d passed away . At the Rovers , double Scotch drinker Mike Baldwin was always met with a smile and chit - chat , while Percy Sugden was left in the cold to nurse his half - a - mild . Underneath his prickly exterior , Alec was a sensitive man , though few people got to see this side of him . He kept people at a distance emotionally to avoid heartbreak ; his separation from Bet was so painful that for a few years he only had lady companions . He liked a laugh , although it was usually at someone ' s expense . Ultimately , it was his ruthlessness in getting what he wanted which alienated him from some of the most important people in his life . Traits . Alec was short ( although he described himself as " slightly above medium " ) and wore glasses . He smoked heavily , often to steady his nerves . In 1988 , he claimed he disliked holidays which were " too foreign " . Alec had a fear of dogs . When Bet took in an Alsatian guard dog , Rover , from the RSPCA , Alec paid Tommy Ferguson to say it was his missing dog . However , he didn ' t mind spiders , as evidenced by him hiring a £500 Mexican mouse - eating spider to display in the Rovers to stir up trade . The escapade ended when the spider got loose and Alec had to squash it with his bare hands without being noticed during an inspection by the health inspector . Relationships . Gilroy family . All Alec got from his father Reg was a propensity for penny - pinching and being in public houses ( albeit on opposite sides of the bar ) . Reg left Alec ' s mother Mabel for another woman when Alec and his sister Edna were children . They were reunited many years later , when Reg got in touch with Alec out of guilt when he thought Reg was dying , and introduced him to his 27 - year - old half - sister Brenda . Alec ' s theatrical bent arose from competition with his sister Edna , although , like his parents , Edna played no part in Alec ' s adult life . However , he kept in touch with Brenda and helped her out by giving her work in the entertainment industry as Melody Lane , including a prestigious spot on the QE2 in December 1995 , despite her questionable level of talent . Rita Sullivan . When Alec settled in Coronation Street in 1986 , Rita Fairclough was the only person he knew from the " old days " ; they ' d collaborated a few times in the 1970s in their respective roles of impresario and singer . During her short time on Alec ' s books , Rita found Alec and his showbiz pals dodgy , claiming that she only survived it as she was old enough to know her way around . When Jenny Bradley sang for Alec , hoping he would sign her up , Rita told Alan her experiences and advised him to put a stop to it . Rita and Alec crossed paths only rarely during his and Bet ' s marriage ; early in their romance , Rita advised Bet not to get involved with Alec , telling her he was rotten to the core , but Bet ignored her friend ' s advice . In 1989 , concerned friends learned of a missing Rita ' s whereabouts when she turned up at The Strand Hotel in Blackpool , which was run by a friend of Alec ' s , Cyril Partridge , and Cyril rang Alec . Rita ' s opinion of Alec began to change when they were on a cruise together in December 1995 . Having been dismissive of him the entire journey , Rita was surprised to learn that a talentless singer he ' d given a spot to on the QE2 was not a woman with whom he was having an affair , but his sister Brenda , and also that he ' d given his cabin to Curly and Raquel Watts . They shared a rare moment of understanding , with Alec confessing that he ' d pocketed money owed to her when she worked for him and that he hadn ' t sold her contract to a big London agent who could have taken her to the top . His kindness and candour went a long way to convincing Rita that the heartless money - grabber she used to know had changed . Alec and Rita became closer upon Alec ' s full - time return to Weatherfield in 1996 . Spending more time finding new talent for his agency , Alec sometimes asked Rita her opinion on acts , and she agreed to coach Fiona Middleton as a singer . Their newfound friendship was noticed by Rita ' s would - be suitor Fred Elliott , though at that point Rita insisted her relationship with Alec was strictly business . In 1998 , after Rita ' s carbon monoxide ordeal , Alec ' s intentions became more serious , and Alec decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Rita . It was only with time - and two proposals - that he managed to win Rita over , but when his battle with the Duckworths became more heated , Rita saw the old Alec emerge and decided to warn Jack and Vera that Alec was going to evict them from the Rovers while they were away . When she confessed to Alec , Alec immediately turned against her , proving to her that he hadn ' t really changed . Alec left Weatherfield without saying goodbye to her . In 2002 , when Bet Lynch returned to the area , Rita broached the subject of her engagement to Alec , causing Bet to reveal that Alec had described the entire ordeal as him " going through a nostalgic phase " . Bet Gilroy . Alec and Bet Lynch crossed paths very briefly when Alec drank at the Rovers in 1975 when Bet was working behind the bar . Eleven years later , Bet was a year into her stewardship of the Rovers and still finding her feet in the job . Meanwhile , Alec was a dab hand in the licence trade and would seem to be a good fit in the flashy Graffiti Club , but in fact his was a lonely and dull job . Their relationship started out professionally - they were colleagues in the trade , and friendly rivals . Alec was attracted to Bet , and slowly moved their relationship in a more personal direction , while Bet appreciated Alec ' s agency help and advice and gradually began to trust him . Alec and Bet had never properly dated before they became engaged ; Alec fell out with Bet when he found out she thought he was using her to get to the Rovers . Their interactions afterwards were purely financial , although Alec demonstrated a great deal of faith in Bet by loaning her the money to buy the Rovers tenancy . Bet proved to be a financial risk but after recovering his losses , Alec offered marriage so that she could remain landlady . Alec was proposing a real marriage but , keeping his feelings for Bet close to his chest , he seemed to Bet to be suggesting a marriage of convenience . However , Bet knew that Alec was serious about her , and even though his proposal could have been more romantic , Bet accepted , and they were married on 9th September 1987 . Alec and Bet couldn ' t have been more different . Bet was a fun - loving barmaid , sassy , and popular with the customers , and her pint - sized husband morose and miserly . They had in common a jaded , unsentimental outlook on life , which both helped them bond and gave rise to many catty exchanges between the pair . The spice of the Gilroy marriage was Alec and Bet ' s power games , with man and wife conspiring to get one over on each other . For example , in December 1988 , Alec found out from Paul Rigby that Bet and Stella successful turn at a health farm had actually been a disaster , with the women dropping out of the regime and spending the rest of their time feasting in a hotel . Alec got a kick out of making Bet talk about the health farm at every opportunity and going on about it in front of the customers , although Bet soon cottoned on and pretended to book the health farm for Alec to scare him . The practicality of the Gilroy marriage both guaranteed its survival but also doomed it from the outset . When Alec got the opportunity to move to Southampton and manage the entertainment on the cruise ships , it was the move he ' d been waiting for . At first , Bet went along with his plans , not having the heart to ask him not to take it , but her doubts were overwhelming and she decided to remain at the Rovers . When she broke the news to Alec , Alec accused her of trying to blackmail him into staying , but Bet knew that Alec would still go - he ' d always done what he wanted . As he left for pastures new , Alec told Bet that she was the one walking out on their marriage , however much she tried to blame him . During Alec ' s brief return to Weatherfield in 1995 , he and Bet put their own feelings aside to concentrate on stopping Vicky Arden from marrying Steve McDonald . Although Bet enjoyed having Alec around again , his presence made her certain that she ' d done the right thing three year earlier ; he viewed people as opportunities , and she was no exception . Jack Duckworth . Alec was introduced to one Jack Duckworth when the Rovers cellarman asked him for a job at the Graffiti Club just after the Rovers fire . Reeking of desperation for work , Jack had nothing to recommend him but Alec seized upon his boast that most of the customers only went into the Rovers because of him ; subject to him bringing that custom to the Graffiti , Alec agreed to take Jack on . Jack won the challenge by buying people free drinks at the establishment , but his employment at the Graffiti only lasted for a few weeks , as he returned to a refurbished Rovers when it opened . Jack became a regular thorn in Alec ' s side when Alec became Rovers licensee . Lazy , shifty , and incompetent , " Jacko " was only useful for doing the donkey work . When Alec was in a bad mood , Jack was the usual recipient of his vitriol , although Alec was insulting and snappy with his instructions in any mood , often getting in jibes about Jack being henpecked by Vera . Jack was a perennial suck - up , and so he always took what Alec threw at him , but occasionally he would show loyalty to Newton & Ridley over the Gilroys , such as in 1989 when he informed the brewery about their break - up in hope of being offered the Rovers himself . Their relationship wasn ' t entirely acrimonious , however , with the pair often sharing their musings on the strange phenomenon of women . A notable incident involving the pair occurred in March 1992 . Secretly working as a pallbearer , Jack feigned back trouble to get a day off work so he could do a funeral . Unluckily for Jack , it was one of Alec ' s friends who had died , and , when the pair made eye contact in the graveyard , Jack abandoned his post and ran off , with Alec giving chase . Jack made it home and covered himself up in a blanket , which fooled Alec when he arrived there moments later , intending to catch him out , but his eagle - eyed employer spotted the muddy shoes and sacked Jack on the spot for moonlighting . Fortunately , Alec was adverse to cellar work and Jack managed to grovel his way back into the Rovers . Later , as business partners , Alec and Jack got on better ; two years of being lord and master of the Rovers had taught Jack a thing or two , and he ' d developed the confidence to put Alec in his place . The Alec of this period was a man biding his time , waiting patiently for his opportunity to oust the Duckworths for good , but keeping them sweet in the meantime . Betty Turpin . Business was no place for sentiment , and when Alec first arrived at the Rovers , one member of staff who stood out for all the wrong reasons was 67 - year - old Betty Turpin , the pub ' s longest - serving barmaid and hotpot queen . Alec saw Betty as the most expendable member of the Rovers staff , and any staffing crisis would invariably see Alec try to force her into retirement . Their first clash came when Alec first took over the Rovers as manager in 1987 , when Betty walked out because of Alec watching her whenever she went over to the till , despite her stainless record at the pub in her years of loyal service . Bet managed to persuade Betty to return while Alec was off sick , and got him to be nicer to Betty as they needed her in the kitchen . However , even Betty ' s famous hotpot wasn ' t safe from Alec ; he once tried to get her to put more salt in the recipe to make the customers thirsty , but Betty was having none of it . In 1992 , when the Health and Safety people were onto the Rovers about the state of the kitchen , Alec decided to stop serving food and unceremoniously fired Betty . Once again , she wasn ' t gone for long , as profits fell so much without her cooking that Alec decided to invest in a new kitchen and grovelled to Betty to get her to return . Alec made another attempt to oust her in 1997 when he got sick of her taking time off due to illness . He wrote Betty a note telling her she was fired and posted it through her letterbox , however he then had to retrieve it when Betty ' s husband Billy Williams passed away that same day . After the funeral , Vera Duckworth promised Betty a job for life . Alec and Betty ' s closest encounter came on a night in 1998 , when Alec returned home feeling randy and climbed into bed in the dark with who he thought was Rita , but was actually Betty , who was staying at Rita ' s while the decorators were working at her house . Betty woke up and hit Alec with a pillow . Vicky Arden . When Alec was introduced to his 12 - year - old grand - daughter Victoria Arden by his son - in - law Tim , it was the second time he ' d seen her that day ; earlier , while stopped in a country lane , Alec had sharply reversed his car , nearly hitting Victoria while she was riding her pony Saracen . Steadying the horse , Vicky tetchily reminded Alec that there were " country codes for motorists " and made him switch off his car ' s engine until she ' d made her way down the lane . Alec then moved off , labelling her a " stupid little brat " under his breath as he continued his search for his daughter Sandra ' s house in Fernwood Place , Handforth . Victoria ( or " Vicky " ) was the apple of her grandfather ' s eye from their first ( proper ) meeting . The same age as Sandra when Alec split from Joyce , Vicky was a reminder to Alec of his failure as a father . She brought out his softer side , and they rarely exchanged a cross word . Occasionally Alec ' s mask slipped , such as in April 1992 when Vicky discovered that Alec had charged her estate for most of the cost of Saracen ' s new saddle which he had supposedly bought as a Christmas present , Alec having been unwilling to pay the full price . Sandra and Tim ' s deaths meant that Alec ' s role in Vicky ' s life was more parental than grandparental . In 1992 , when he caught Vicky kissing Steve McDonald , he warned Steve off as Steve was three years older than Vicky and had a criminal record . Shortly before leaving for Southampton , he caught Steve with another girl and told Vicky , ending their relationship . By 1995 , Steve was living a lifestyle beyond his means , and Vicky was willfully funding his business interests , having recently turned eighteen and inherited her parents ' estate . When they decided to get married , Alec visited to make sure she didn ' t go through with it , doing everything he could think of from luring her away to Southampton to " discuss " the wedding , to offering Steve a lucrative job on the cruise ships and £5 , 000 to stay away from Vicky , all of which failed . Before leaving for Southampton , Alec remarked to Bet that he wasn ' t surprised that Vicky stuck to her guns - she was a Gilroy . Alec maintained a good relationship with Vicky throughout her troubles with Steve but his return to Weatherfield was marred by her rapid decision to move on from the area . In 1999 , they opened a restaurant in Brighton together , however in November of that year Alec missed Vicky ' s wedding to Robert due to being held up in Dubai . Background information . Creation and casting . Roy Barraclough was a Preston - born actor who began his career as a draughtsman , performing in local amateur dramatics groups in his spare time . He eventually quit to pursue an acting career , and trod the boards in repertory in Huddersfield , Stoke - on - Trent and Oldham , where he developed a love of the theatre . In the 1960s , he branched out into television , making a number of appearances on programmes for Granada and YTV , usually in guest parts . In Episode 1194 , transmitted on 26th June 1972 , Barraclough made his debut appearance as Alec Gilroy , appearing in both of that week ' s episodes . At that point , Barraclough was one of " Coronation Street " ' s most prolific bit part actors , having appeared in four previous episodes in different roles : a Blue John Mines Tour Guide in June 1965 , an electric guitar salesman in July 1967 , window cleaner I - spy Dwyer in June 1968 and finally restaurant - diner Harry in June 1970 . A four - episode reprisal of the character in 1975 cemented Barraclough ' s role as Alec , but with the actor enjoying success as part of a comedy partnership with , producers failed to tie him down to a regular role . In 1986 , the producership of John G . Temple and Bill Podmore ( as executive producer ) finally persuaded Barraclough to sign for the " Street " full - time , granting him eight weeks off a year to do a play . On signing the actor , Bill Podmore recalls : " It was never a great problem inducing Roy to make a fleeting visit to Weatherfield . The tough job was persuading him to stay . While many actors would give their right arm to land a " Coronation Street " contract , Roy ' s terrific talent meant he was rarely short of work , either on stage or the more lucrative television , and he was not easily tempted . " " ( Coronation Street : The Inside Story , Bill Podmore , 1990 ) " Episode 2632 ( 23rd June 1986 ) was Alec ' s first appearance as a regular . Partnership with Bet . Alec appeared initially as manager of the Graffiti Club in Rosamund Street - a temporary home to the Rovers regulars while the pub was renovated - but writers quickly decided to focus on his sparring relationship with Bet Lynch . Barraclough enjoyed playing Alec ' s nasty side , and was surprised at the direction writers took the character : " The public loved to hate Alec because he was such a devious so - and - so and was up to every scam in the book . The viewers loved all that roguery , I think . Of course , when he got together with Bet he was really up against it because she had the measure of his craftiness . " " ( Fifty Years of Coronation Street , Headline Publishing Group , 2010 ) . " In 1987 , Alec ' s relationship with Bet became more serious , and the couple decided to marry in what was the " Street " ' s unlikeliest marriage to date , with Alec becoming licensee of the Rovers . The decision stunned Barraclough and Julie Goodyear , who both had misgivings : " They were a most unlikely couple . I think that Julie and I both thought that . I wasn ' t very enamoured with the idea because I thought that the marriage , however unlikely it was , would of necessity mellow the characters down and I thought there was more fun to be had with the sharp banter that they had before . " " ( The Coronation Street Story , Boxtree Limited , 1995 ) " However , Podmore , who had recently returned to the position of producer , believed the comic potential of the pairing to be worth it : " Julie Goodyear ' s natural flair for comedy and Alec ' s droll , expressive face have produced some memorable moments . Theirs may have seemed an improbable match , but like Emily Bishop and Percy Sugden they make a perfect odd couple , and a fertile area for comedy writing . " " ( Coronation Street : The Inside Story ) " Alec ' s proposal to Bet was shot on location in Torremolinos , where Bet had been living for three months ( as Julie Goodyear had been granted compassionate leave earlier that year to look after her seriously ill mother ) . When the time came to record the wedding , Roy Barraclough ' s mind was on matters more material : " These seamstresses had toiled for weeks , creating this Emmanuel - style wedding dress . I mean , if she fell off the Forth Bridge , she could have quite happily parachuted to safety . Yet there was no one available to hem up my trousers for the wedding suit . They were like concertinas , round the shoes , and in desperation the floor manager rushed forward and turned them up with sellotape . There I stood , with a crowd of what must have been 300 members of the public , who ' d gathered outside the church to watch this very special wedding being filmed with these awful trousers . " " ( The Coronation Street Story ) " Despite his doubts , the benefits of Alec and Bet marrying were not lost on Roy Barraclough . Reflecting on his screen marriage , Barraclough : " He was very much taken with Bet , and marriage has changed him . . . For Alec , in that seedy little area , Bet represented showbusiness . She was the only one around there with style , panache , theatricality . Julie and I have worked very hard at making the two characters work as a couple , but we already knew each other so well . I performed at Oldham Rep more than 20 years ago when she was an assistant stage manager there and we ' ve always been good friends and had a natural rapport and share the same , rather bizarre sense of humour . We have a lot of fun in rehearsals and joke a lot , which leads to a very relaxed atmosphere . " " ( Life in the Street , Boxtree Limited , 1991 ) " Roy Barraclough calls time . Alec was absent from " Coronation Street " over October 1987 due to Roy Barraclough appearing in a play , and again in March and April 1989 . In 1988 , with his contract due to expire , Barraclough decided to quit the programme , citing typecasting as a reason for his departure . His exit storyline was in early planning stages when he had a surprise change of heart , as Bill Podmore recalls : " He insisted on leaving before he became better known as Alec Gilroy than Roy Barraclough , and all my efforts to dissuade him failed . Suddenly , out of the blue , he had a change of heart and the scriptwriters were spared the task of inventing a plausible exit for Bet ' s tubby hubby . To this day I don ' t know what brought about the change of mind . " " ( Coronation Street : The Inside Story ) " Barraclough references this in a 1990 interview : " For the foreseeable future , I will continue playing Alec because I ' m enjoying it , but two years ago I thought I was going to pack it all in . The actor ' s instinct is to do it , move on and tackle another challenge . With soap , once you have established the character , it ' s just a case of learning a different situation each week . There ' s nothing else to explore . But Granada outlined all sorts of interesting ideas they had to develop the character and it sounded smashing . " " ( Life in the Street ) " One of the new ideas for Alec was to introduce his estranged daughter Sandra . For this storyline , Alec ' s backstory was changed from established history ( given in Episode 2810 ) that he and first wife Joyce had separated while Joyce was still pregnant , to them divorcing when Sandra was thirteen years old . In 1991 , Chloe Newsome became a permanent addition to the cast , playing Alec ' s grand - daughter Vicky Arden ( originally played by Helen Warburton in 1990 ) . However , Barraclough remained non - committal about his future with " Coronation Street " , a situation not helped by the addition of a third weekly episode in October 1989 . Barraclough : " It ' s damned hard work . If you ' re featured prominently in a storyline for five or six weeks , the pressure begins to get to you and the strain really starts to tell . It ' s very much bed and work . At the moment it ' s OK , but one could foresee a time when it could all get too much . I spent my life permanently tense . " " ( Life in the Street ) " Roy Barraclough had another short absence from the " Street " over Christmas 1991 . In 1992 , Barraclough quit the " Street " , and this time he didn ' t change his mind . Although he expressed a desire for Alec to be killed off , writers instead chose to send him away to Southampton to resume his entertainment career , believing that Bet ' s new status as a separated woman had dramatic potential . Barraclough ' s first part after leaving was in " Feed " , a Tom Elliott - penned play at Bolton ' s Octagon Theatre . Comebacks . When Julie Goodyear decided to leave " Coronation Street " after 25 years in 1995 , Roy Barraclough was persuaded to return as Alec for a storyline which saw the Gilroys reunite to stop Vicky marrying Steve McDonald . The story saw Bet and Alec pick up where they left off , entertaining viewers with their bickering one last time . Alec next appeared in direct - to - video " Coronation Street - The Feature Length Special " , also in 1995 , before returning to the regular programme full - time from April 1996 . Initially returning as manager of the local branch of Sunliners Travel Agency , Alec was eventually moved to his former position at the Rovers , this time opposite Jack and Vera Duckworth . On 1st September 1998 , tabloids carried the story of Barraclough ' s resignation from the " Street " , with carrying a quote from the actor : " It ' s true I ' ve told them I want to go at the end of my six month contract . It ' s hard work these days and I ' ve just completed a 19 week stint at the studios . " Episode 4534 , transmitted on 30th December , was his final appearance . In " The Stars of the Street " , a countdown of the top fifty " Coronation Street " characters released on DVD in 2010 , Alec was ranked at # 37 . Quotes . " I ' ve told Len you ' re here , he ' s just finishing a break in the games room . " ( First line , to Alan and Elsie Howard ) " No , I ' m sorry , no time Vera , any questions speak to your new boss . " ( Final line )