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 . When nephew Alex expressed an interest in purchasing one of Pat Phelan and Vinny Ashford ' s flats , Cathy decided to take it upon herself to ask Alex ' s father , Nigel Warner , for the money for him to do so . However , Nigel was extremely hostile towards Cathy , and after she inquired about his despicable behaviour , he let slip that somebody ordered him to keep quiet about who had been paying for Alex ' s maintenance . Confused , Cathy investigated through some old documents , and later confided in her friend , Yasmeen Nazir that she believed Alex was the result of her husband , Alan ' s , affair with her sister , Nessa . Concerned that her theory may be correct , Cathy went to see Nigel again , however this time he confirmed that Alex was Alan ' s son , with Cathy taking her frustrations out on Alex . Cathy soon learned Alex knew all along that Alan was his biological father , and soon after announced that he was going to live with Nessa in Scotland , thinking that he had upset his aunt . The situation eventually took its toll on Roy and Cathy ' s relationship . Roy thought Cathy ' s treatment of Alex was wrong . He soon came to the conclusion that the couple need some time apart . On their way to Scotland , Alex admitted that he didn ' t want to live with Nessa and he moved back to Weatherfield . Cathy and Alex called a truce and she reunited with Roy , resuming their relationship . As their wedding loomed closer , Cathy ' s excitement was obvious whereas Roy felt nervous and was unsure if he had made the right choice to go through with it , as he still loved Hayley deep down . In December , Cathy ' s troublesome sister , Nessa , returned for the wedding and desperately wanted to be involved . Upon Nessa ' s return the stress really started to tell on Roy with him developing rashes on his face , sleepwalking , and he even suffered a panic attack in the Bistro . Despite all of this , Roy agreed to go ahead with the wedding just to keep Cathy happy . To make sure said her vows correctly , Cathy recorded her words with one of her several dictaphones . Upon reciting her lines , she left the dictaphone switched on as she left the flat for her hen night celebrations with Yasmeen and Nessa . While out , Tyrone and Brian Packham confronted Roy about his feelings towards the wedding . Roy admitted to them that he was only marrying Cathy because he promised her when she proposed to him , however the trio were unaware that Cathy ' s dictaphone had just recorded their entire conversation . On the day of the wedding , Cathy was joyful as she prepared to marry Roy . She was confused when she heard that Tyrone and Brian had been banned from attending by Roy . Upon arriving at the church , she finally allowed Nessa to give her away . Outside , Cathy listened to her vows one last time , but instead she hears , by accident , Roy confessing his true feelings about her . She entered the church with a calm facade and confronted Roy and the guests , asking everyone except Roy to leave the ceremony . After suggesting that they remained close friends , Cathy was crushed by Roy ' s enthusiasm at the prospect of them splitting up . As a result , Cathy and Alex moved out of Roy ' s flat and Cathy moved in with Yasmeen at 6 Coronation Street . Before Nessa went back to Inverness , the sisters got drunk together and reminisced . Following Roy and Cathy ' s split , Cathy left her job at Roy ' s Rolls and picked up a job at Prima Doner and the Corner Shop in 2017 . Both businesses were owned by Dev Alahan . Dev gave her both jobs after unfair treatment when Gemma Winter employed her without permission . Cathy and Gemma developed a friendship and decided to hit the town one night . Upon arriving back , a drunken Cathy vomited on Brian ' s shoes , but later apologised to him . Quotes . " Excuse me , whats going on here ? ! " ( First line to Sharif Nazir and Roy Cropper ) " Im setting you free , Roy Cropper ( To Roy after their failed attempt at marriage )