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Real life soap couples as Coronation Street stars go public with new romance

As Coronation Street actors Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances Brown go public with their romance, we take a look at some other soap stars that share the screen on our favourite soaps

[Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances Brown have found love]

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Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances Brown have found love(Image: Instagram)

Coronation Street, Emmerdale and EastEnders are a great way to meet people - if these celebrity couples are anything to go by.

As actors Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances Brown - who play Carl Webster and Jodie Ramsey on the Cobbles - confirm they're dating, we take a look at all the celebrity couples that have found love on the set of soaps.

From Emmerdale icons to Chris Chittell and Lesley Dunlop and EastEnders and Emmerdale actors Toby-Alexander Smith and Amy Walsh, love is in the air off-screen. Take a look at the full list below.

Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances Brown (Coronation Street)

[Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances Brown]

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Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances Brown(Image: Instagram)

Coronation Street co-stars Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances Brown have 'hard launched' their romance.

The couple shared photos on social media with pictures from Ibiza, and in one photo, they are lying next to each other on sunbeds whilst in another they're out at a big club event.

The pair were on holiday in Ibiza with friend Jamie Lomas and his fianc Jess Bell. Jonathan was previously married to Elodie Young, who starred as Elektra Natchios in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whilst Olivia previously dated This City is Ours actor James Nelson-Joyce. The pair were engaged but have since split.

Chris Chittell and Lesley Dunlop (Emmerdale)

[Chris Chittell and Lesley Dunlop]

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Chris Chittell and Lesley Dunlop

Emmerdale actor Chris Chittell has been married to his co-star Lesley Dunlop since 2016.

Chris plays Eric Pollard in the ITV soap and is the longest-serving actor in the history of the soap whilst Lesley played Brenda, who quit the ITV soap last year as her character headed on a three month cruise around the world.

"Everyone thinks it's the younger members of the cast who have all the fun but we more mature ones do too," he said of their romance, "It was weird. Somehow we'd never met before and we just kept bumping into each other at work. I can't remember if I asked her for a date or she asked me but she is wonderful and we're very happy.

"For some people, working together would be a nightmare but we love it. We make a point of not talking about Emmerdale when we're at home, though - that would be just too sad, wouldn't it? And we do get strange looks when we're out sometimes. You can see people getting confused."

Joe Duttine and Sally Carman (Coronation Street)

[Joe Duttine and Sally Carman]

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Joe Duttine and Sally Carman(Image: Getty Images)

Joe Duttine, who plays Tim Metcalfe on the ITV soap, and Sally Carman, who stars as Abi Webster, have been married since 2022 after meeting on the set of the programme back in 2018.

Opening up on what it's like working with real-life husband Joe on set, Sally quipped: "It's awful. I don't recommend it," before adding: "I give him a wide berth because he makes me laugh and and once I've gone, there's no getting it back - and there's tears, so it's makeup retouching. I'm like, to myself, 'Get it together,' which makes its worse. He does it on purpose, so then I'm fuming with him!"

They still work together on the cobbles, but their characters have never shared any romantic scenes.

Jeff Hordley and Zoe Henry (Emmerdale)

[Jeff Hordley and Zoe Henry]

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Jeff Hordley and Zoe Henry(Image: Zoe Henry Twitter)

Jeff Hordley and Zoe Henry play Cain Dingle and Rhona Ghoskirk on the ITV soap together, but they rarely share scenes. In fact, the duo recently appeared in the same scene together - the first in a long while.

In 2022, Zoe addressed why it was a good thing that she and her husband Jeff are not always filming together. She said: "We have a separate existence at work and we like that. We often do line learning together."

She also revealed having separate scenes and filming schedules worked quite well for the pair, as during busy filming times, they can take it in turns to focus on things at home including their children.

Jeff and Zoe married in 2003 after meeting at drama school in the 90s, and they have been together ever since.

Toby-Alexander Smith and Amy Walsh (EastEnders and Emmerdale)

[Toby-Alexander Smith and Amy Walsh]

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Toby-Alexander Smith and Amy Walsh(Image: Ian West/PA Wire)

Emmerdale actress Amy Walsh and her EastEnders husband Toby-Alexander Smith have been dating since 2020 after meeting in the audience at Strictly Come Dancing a year before.

The couple are best known for their soap roles, with Amy playing Tracy Robinson in the ITV soap whilst Toby played EastEnders villain and serial killer Gray Atkins, with him making a brief return recently.

Speaking about how they met, she said: "The twists of fate that came into play to make us meet are crazy. Jamie Laing was supposed to be in it that year but he broke his ankle so Kelvin Fletcher replaced him, and Toby wasnt even supposed to be in the audience that week. It only came out when we spoke to each other and we put two and two together and were like, 'So you do that and I do that.'

"We didnt even say the words Emmerdale or EastEnders. After the show someone sent me a screenshot of us in the audience and I sent it to my best friend and joked, 'Me and my future husband,' just thinking it was going to be a date."

Jane Danson and Robert Beck (Coronation Street and Emmerdale)

[Jane Danson and Robert Beck]

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Jane Danson and Robert Beck(Image: @realjanedanson/Instagram)

Jane Danson, who stars as Leanne Battersby on the Cobbles, is actually married to fellow soap star Robert Beck. Robert has appeared in the likes of Brookside, Emmerdale and Waterloo Road.

Soap power couple Jane and Robert met in 1999 and tied the knot in 2005. The pair are also parents to Harry - born in July 2006 and Sam - born in February 2009. As well as Brookside, Robert starred in Coronation Street back in 2008, playing criminal Jimmy Dockerson. and in Emmerdale, he played villain Damon 'Harry' Harris.

Speaking of her crush on him, she said: "I have got to be careful here because I'm a little bit younger than him... When I was at school, I had a sticker of him on my pencil case and a poster of him. He was in Brookside at the time, another soap that's no longer around, but he was very big in the soap at the time. I liked him a lot and some years later, when I was a little bit older, he was at the soap awards!"

Nikki Sanderson and Anthony Quinlan (Hollyoaks)

[Nikki Sanderson and Anthony Quinlan]

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Nikki Sanderson and Anthony Quinlan

Nikki Sanderson - who has had big roles in Coronation Street and Hollyoaks - is married to actor Anthony Quinlan, who has had stints in the likes of Hollyoaks and Emmerdale.

The pair have now welcomed their first child together, a son called Anthony James Quinlan. The little one was born on April 19, weighing a very healthy 7lbs 9oz.

"Hes named after his dad and my brother James. Two very special men. Were truly blessed. Hes just so calm, which is great for us while were getting used to the baby bubble," Nikki said.

Anthony previously confessed he "slid into the DMs and that was it". He added: "I was lucky enough to get a date and the rest is history. All I can say is I'm really, really happy and she's a very special girl. She's lovely."

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