Cathy Matthews, played by
Melanie Hill, made her first screen appearance on 20 April 2015. The character and Hill's casting was announced on 23 February 2015. Of her casting, Hill said "I'm chuffed to bits to be joining the cast of my favourite soap. My family and I grew up watching it and to actually be working on it is a dream come true." On 14 May 2022 it was announced that Hill would be leaving the soap after seven years with Cathy set to depart the show later this year and Cathy departed on 17 June 2022. Cathy first appears ordering Roy and
Sharif Nazir (Marc Anwar) not to ruin her late husband, Alan's garden patch at the local allotments. Roy is concerned for Cathy as Alan's patch looks very untidy, and attempts to clear it up for her; however, Cathy shouts at him and orders him to leave. He returns to the allotments and apologises to Cathy and they realise they have a mutual connection as they are both widowed. Roy invites Cathy to his café in Weatherfield; however, she is reluctant as she is still grieving for Alan. She does so, and is welcomed by the local residents. When it transpires that she has a natural talent in art,
Yasmeen Nazir (
Shelley King) offers Cathy the opportunity to run her own art classes at the Weatherfield Community Centre. She is at first reluctant due to her shy personality; however, she is pleased by the support Roy and the local residents give her. Roy,
Fiz Stape (
Jennie McAlpine) and
Tyrone Dobbs (
Alan Halsall) become suspicious as to why Cathy never invites Roy back to her house or ever mentions her house. Eventually, Roy and
Carla Connor (
Alison King) go to investigate, and find bailiffs knocking on the door and Cathy shouting at them from a window. The bailiffs leave after being persuaded by Roy and Carla, and Cathy reluctantly lets them in. It is then revealed that Cathy is a
hoarder, keeping all of Alan's old belongings and unnecessary items such as ancient newspapers and milk bottles. Roy is adamant that he is going to help Cathy overcome her hoarding; however, after he throws out some of the junk, Cathy is overwhelmed with guilt and orders him to leave. She later apologises and bakes him a cake to apologise; however, when she tries to reach a book from the bottom of a pile of boxes, the boxes and other large heaps of clutter fall on Cathy, trapping her. Later, Roy arrives and breaks the door down to save Cathy, and after Cathy admits that she is not safe living in her house, Roy insists that she moves into the café flat with him for a while. The next day, Roy treats Cathy to a trip to an art gallery, while Fiz, Tyrone and
Chesney Brown (
Sam Aston) attempt to clear out some of her clutter. However, when Roy and Cathy return to her house, Cathy breaks down as Fiz, Tyrone and Chesney have completely cleared out all of the clutter, and she orders everybody to leave other than Roy. He eventually manages to show Cathy that the clutter was putting her in danger, but she reveals she cannot move back yet. A few weeks later, she finally decides she can move back into her house; however, Roy confides in her that Fiz's young daughter
Hope has cancer and that he values Cathy's company during this difficult time, so she remains in Weatherfield for his sake. Cathy later reveals to
Anna Windass (
Debbie Rush) that she has developed feelings for Roy; however, she is worried that telling him will damage their friendship. When Cathy's nephew,
Alex Warner (Liam Bairstow) visits the café, he teases Roy and Cathy about how close they are, which upsets and embarrasses Roy. On Roy's birthday in September, Cathy organises a train-themed party at the café for him; however, he is upset over Hayley and orders everybody to leave, but Carla assures him that starting a relationship with Cathy would not be betraying Hayley. Cathy then decides to leave Weatherfield after believing Roy will never be able to get over Hayley and start a relationship with her, but her bus breaks down outside the café and Roy admits he has feelings for her too, leading to the pair passionately kissing. Cathy is later frustrated by the arrival of her loud and shameless sister
Nessa Warner (Sadie Shimmin), and feels ashamed when she begins a lustful relationship with the recently widowed
Ken Barlow (
William Roache). On New Year's Day 2016, Cathy decides to clear out the rest of the clutter at her house as a
New Year's resolution. When Roy helps her by clearing out Alan's office, he stumbles across some love letters that Alan and Nessa had sent to one another, revealing that they were having an affair behind Cathy's back. Roy is unsure of what to do and confides in Anna, who encourages him to confront Nessa. As Cathy returns to her house to continue with the clear out, she herself comes across the love letters, and when Roy and Nessa arrive, Cathy angrily shouts at Nessa and throws her out before breaking down in tears. Roy then lets slip that he found out about the affair the previous day, and came to the house to help Nessa dispose of the love letters, leading to Cathy throwing Roy out, too. The following day, Cathy ends her relationship with Roy, stating that he has terminated their mutual trust. She later sets fire to Alan and Nessa's love letters after reading them all; however, when she becomes distracted by a phonecall, the fire spreads rapidly. When she witnesses the fire, heaps of clutter fall in the path of the only exit in her haste to reach a sheet in an attempt to calm the flames. Fortunately, Roy and Nessa arrive, and Roy enters the burning house and saves Cathy, who had managed to crawl away from the flames despite suffering from minor smoke inhalation. She is extremely thankful to Roy for saving her; however, hostile towards Nessa, after realising how intimate her affair with Alan was. Cathy then returns to live with Roy, and the pair confess their love for one another. While Roy is caring for his mother,
Sylvia Goodwin (
Stephanie Cole), who has injured her ankle, Cathy allows Alex to move into the café after he falls out with Nessa. In May 2016, Cathy attends Carla and
Nick Tilsley's (
Ben Price) wedding with Roy upon his return. When she returns to the café after the nuptials are ruined, Alex convinces her that she should propose to Roy, which she does but he declines as Carla is in an unstable state. Upset, she takes Alex to the corner shop, but as they exit, Carla attempts to run over her arch-enemy
Tracy Barlow (
Kate Ford), but swerves and Cathy is hit by her car as she pushes Alex back into the shop to save him. She is rushed to hospital and told she has concussion and broken ribs, and is devastated when Roy refuses to talk to Carla over the incident, but manages to change his mind before Carla leaves Weatherfield. After their previous attempt, Roy proposes to Cathy in the café, to which she delightfully accepts. When Alex expresses an interest in purchasing one of
Pat Phelan's (
Connor McIntyre) flats, Cathy decides to take it upon herself to ask his father, Nigel (
Jim Cartwright), for the money for him to do so. However, Nigel is extremely hostile towards Cathy, and after she inquires about his despicable behaviour, he lets slip that somebody ordered him to keep quiet about who has been paying for Alex's maintenance. Confused, Cathy investigates through some old documents, and later confides in Yasmeen that she believes that Alex is the result of her husband, Alan's, affair with her sister, Nessa. Concerned that her theory may be correct, Cathy visits Nigel again; however, this time he confirms that Alex is Alan's son, with Cathy taking her frustrations out on Alex. It later transpires that Alex knew all along that Alan was his biological father, and announces that he is going to live with Nessa in Scotland, worrying that he has upset Cathy. The situation eventually takes its toll on Roy and Cathy's relationship, as Roy disagrees with Cathy's treatment of Alex, and he soon comes to the conclusion that the couple need some time apart. On their way to Scotland, the car breaks down and Alex later admits he does not want to live with Nessa and he moves back to Weatherfield. Cathy and Alex make a truce and she reunites with Roy, resuming their relationship. Cathy continues to gleefully organise her wedding to Roy, unaware that Roy does not love her because he is still in love with Hayley. She is frustrated by the return of Nessa, and is angry when she teases to the residents about Roy sleepwalking into her bedroom. Due to this, Cathy asks Roy whether they should cancel the wedding, and is shattered when Roy believes that it is for the best. She is upset when she finds Roy cancelling the arrangements early in the morning, and that he has informed half of the guests. However, after Roy suffers a panic attack in the Bistro, the wedding is called back on, delighting Cathy while worrying Roy. Worried about remembering her wedding vows, Cathy records them on a
dictaphone to help her recite them. Eventually, Tyrone and
Brian Packham (
Peter Gunn) confront Roy about his feelings, and he admits that he is only marrying Cathy because he promised her when she proposed to him; however, the three of them are unaware that Cathy's dictaphone has recorded their conversation. On the day of the wedding, Cathy is joyful and she prepares to marry Roy, but is confused when she hears that Tyrone and Brian have been banned from attending. Upon arriving at the church, she allows Nessa to give her away, and listens to her vows one last time, but she listens to Roy confessing his true feelings instead. She enters the church and calmly confronts Roy, asking the wedding guests to leave. After proposing that they remain close friends, Cathy is crushed by Roy's enthusiasm at the prospect of them breaking up. As a result, Cathy and Alex move out of Roy's flat and in with Yasmeen. Cathy struggles to move on from her breakup with Roy; however, later she finds happiness when she enters a relationship with Brian. After securing two jobs at the kebab shop and the corner shop both owned by
Dev Alahan (
Jimmi Harkishin), Cathy and Brian move into the flat next to the Bistro with Alex. Cathy later suggests to Brian that they look into purchasing a shop to sell antiques. However, this idea eventually fizzles out when Brian decides to return to teaching. Cathy is the first to notice that Brian is being
bullied by the deputy headteacher, Phil Gillespie (Tom Turner), when he takes credit for Brian's hardworking ethic. As Phil puts more pressure on Brian to achieve, Brian ends up collapsing and suffering a mild
heart attack from the stress. Eventually, Cathy joins forces with
David Platt (
Jack P. Shepherd),
Shona Ramsey (
Julia Goulding) and
Evelyn Plummer (
Maureen Lipman) to stand up to Phil for Brian in The Rovers. Cathy later worries about Yasmeen's well-being after suspicions are raised about her new husband,
Geoff Metcalfe's (
Ian Bartholomew), treatment towards her. Unbeknownst to Cathy, Geoff is
coercively controlling and
psychologically abusing Yasmeen, and after Cathy overhears an argument between them, Geoff forbids Yasmeen from seeing Cathy. ==Marion Logan==