Roache: 'I cheated on my first wife'

William Roache has admitted that a string of affairs caused the breakdown of his first marriage.

Speaking to the News of the World about his upcoming autobiography, the veteran Coronation Street actor said that he took responsibility for the end of his marriage to Anna Cropper after sleeping with fans of the soap.

He said: "Temptation is lurking around the corner, because so much is on offer to you. It was nobody else's fault. No-one forced me to do what I did, and I still regret the way I behaved and ultimately what it did to my marriage.

"I wasn't strong enough to resist the opportunities. I succumbed to my weaknesses and because of this indulged in things like affairs which I am certainly not proud of."

Roache's son Linus, who was born during his marriage to Cropper, is currently starring in Coronation Street as Ken Barlow's estranged son Lawrence.