Coronation Street star Bill Roache seen with new £72k Audi as he faces bankruptcy for second time over mystery tax debt
Bill Roache has battled a number of financial woes over the years
CORONATION Street stalwart Bill Roache has been spotted in a £72,000 Audi, despite facing bankruptcy.
The 91-year-old soap legend was seen in Cheshire today getting out of the white motor.
The Audi A6 saloon has a top speed of 152mph, can reach 60mph in 7.3 seconds, and can fetch up to £72,000.
The new car comes just weeks after HMRC petitioned him for unpaid tax, threatening to bankrupt him for a second time.
He also appeared to be spending more money on new soft furnishings, with two grey interior decorating vans at his property.
Roache is thought to earn about £250,000 a year and has said he wants to be the first 100-year-old to be a regular cast member on a soap.
Roache, who has played Ken Barlow in Corrie since 1960, was formally petitioned over tax arrears by HMRC in January.
Details of the cause of the tax debt remained confidential.
It would make Roache bankrupt for the second time after he was first declared insolvent in 1999.
Meanwhile, Roache is set to divulge Corrie secrets in an upcoming tour, selling tickets for just £20.
He will head to the seaside town Scarborough this summer for An Evening With William Roache: The Best Of His Life And Times.
Show organisers have promised a “genuinely unique and special occasion” filled with “heartfelt and fascinating stories about his long and successful life.”
“There will be many interesting, heartfelt and fascinating stories about his long and successful life as part of the British Soap institution that is Coronation Street.”
A spokesperson for the soap previously said: “We’re really sorry to hear of Bill’s financial situation.
“Bill has an ongoing contract with Coronation Street and remains a much-loved member of the cast.”
Roache is the world’s longest-serving soap star, appearing on Corrie’s very first episode more than 63 years ago.
He was awarded an MBE in 2001 and an OBE in 2022.
In 2012, he boasted in an interview with Piers Morgan that he had bedded up to 1,000 women, and led to his co-stars nicknaming him “c**k Roache”.
But he said he regretted his infidelity which led to the break-up of his first marriage with Anna Cropper in 1974.
His second wife Sara Mottram died suddenly in 2009.
Roache found love again with weather presenter Emma Jesson but they split in 2013. His eldest son is actor Linus Roache, 59.
In 2013, Roache was arrested by police and falsely accused of assaulting five women between 1965 and 1971 who were aged 16 or under.
He was later acquitted by a jury.
An agent for Bill Roache did not want to comment.
Inside Bill Roache's financial woes as he faces bankruptcy for second time
Bill was previously made bankrupt in 1999 after a legal gambit went wrong.
Roache’s financial woes date back to 1991 when he won a libel action after The Sun described him as “boring”.
He was awarded £50,000 in damages after turning down the same amount in an out-of-court settlement – and had to pay £120,000 costs.
The actor then spent more money suing his lawyers – and lost.
He was declared bankrupt in 1999, and two years later his creditors estimated he had unpaid debts of £600,000.
Roache is also known to be among 288 high-earners who invested an average £1.75million each in an off-shore firm deemed a “tax-avoidance arrangement”.
