Coronation Street star Sam Aston has revealed an unexpected side to co-star David Neilson.

Speaking on the Off Script podcast with former Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher and his wife Liz, Chesney Brown star Aston has weighed in on playing opposite Neilson on Corrie.

According to Aston, Neilson, who’s been playing Roy Cropper since 1995, is nothing like his character as he has a surprisingly dry, funny personality on set.

“He’s great, he’s really funny because he’s so different [to his character] and he’s very dry,” Aston said of his co-star.

“It’s just one of them, it’s hard to do a scene with him sometimes, because he’ll do it on purpose, he’ll do something really daft on the back of a shot and you’re trying to keep a straight face.”

While they have fun off-screen, their characters Chesney and Roy have been at the centre of some pretty dramatic storylines throughout the years. Particularly, Roy and his late wife Hayley, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh, being parental figures for Chesney and his sister Fiz.

“Him and obviously Hayley, you know they were kind of the parent figures to Chesney when obviously he was having a real rough time at home,” Aston said. “He took me to karate lessons, we did all sorts, it was brilliant.”

Recently on the cobbles, Chesney has found out his new neighbour Mick Michaelis has been threatening his wife Gemma Winter-Brown. Meanwhile, Roy, who was previously accused of the murder of Lauren Bolton and later cleared, has become a father figure to the troubled teen.