9 real-life soap romances you've probably forgotten

Photo credit: Digitalspy/ST / Getty Images
Photo credit: Digitalspy/ST / Getty Images

From Digital Spy

We've brought you up to speed with all of the most recent real-life couples from the soap world, but what about the ones that time forgot?

At one point, these off-screen romances were all over the gossip pages, but since they've all split up and moved on with their lives, you'd definitely be forgiven for forgetting they were ever together.

1. Jonny Clarke and Stephanie Davis (Hollyoaks)

Photo credit: Lime Pictures
Photo credit: Lime Pictures

These days Stephanie is best known for her memorable stint in the Celebrity Big Brother house and her toxic relationship with Jeremy McConnell.

But back when she was a fresh-faced teen in Hollyoaks, Stephanie found love with co-star Jonny Clarke a few months after their characters Sinead O'Connor and Bart McQueen became on-screen love interests in 2010.

The guys weren't too public with the romance (well, certainly in comparison to the Steph and Jez saga...) so it's not too clear exactly when and why things fizzled out. Clearly not put off from her first experience dating a co-star, Stephanie also later had a romance with her on-screen husband Charlie Clapham, who played Freddie Roscoe.

2. Lucy Benjamin and Steve McFadden (EastEnders)

Photo credit: Dave Hogan / Contributor / Getty Images
Photo credit: Dave Hogan / Contributor / Getty Images

Everyone remembers Phil Mitchell and Lisa Fowler's turbulent relationship on screen in EastEnders, especially how it led to the 'Who Shot Phil?' whodunnit. But with so much attention on their iconic storyline, it can be easy to forget that these two were an item in real life, too.

Steve and Lucy were together between 1999 and 2003, with Steve later blaming the breakdown of their relationship on mistrust caused by phone hacking from the tabloids.

The pair worked together again recently when Lisa Fowler briefly returned to Albert Square. Quizzed about the potentially tricky situation on ITV's Loose Women, Lucy insisted that it wasn't awkward as they kept things professional by only focusing on their storyline. Phew.

3. Anthony Quinlan and Michelle Keegan (Hollyoaks and Coronation Street)

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Anthony is best known for playing Emmerdale's Pete Barton these days, but back when he was in Hollyoaks as Gilly Roach, he was lucky enough to have soap's sexiest female Michelle Keegan on his arm. The pair were together for two years between 2006 and 2008.

Quizzed about the romance in an interview with OK Magazine in 2010, Anthony insisted their split had been amicable: "Yes, we see each other every now and then. We were together for a couple of years. We're still good friends."

4. Gillian Taylforth and Nick Berry (EastEnders)

Photo credit: REX/Shutterstock
Photo credit: REX/Shutterstock

After appearing in EastEnders on and off since the show's launch in 1985, it's fair to say that the ups and downs of Gillian's off-screen romances have often played out in the tabloids over the years.

One early example of this was Gillian's relationship with co-star Nick Berry, who played Simon Wicks in the show. The pair were together for three years between 1985 and 1988. Their romance certainly attracted some attention at the time, with the papers gleefully drawing attention to the fact that Nick was eight years younger than Gillian and playing her on-screen stepson.

5. Sammy Winward and James Sutton (Emmerdale)

Photo credit: ITV/REX/Shutterstock
Photo credit: ITV/REX/Shutterstock

In between his two separate stints as John Paul McQueen in Hollyoaks, James played the role of Ryan Lamb on Emmerdale. The job brought James in close proximity with Sammy when her character Katie Sugden became romantically involved with Ryan.

It was a very similar story in real life, as James and Sammy began dating off set in 2009. Life then imitated art for a second time when Ryan and Katie split in Emmerdale and promised to remain friends, then James and Sammy suddenly split in real life too... and yep, you guessed it, promised to remain friends.

6. Charlie Clapham and Tamara Wall (Hollyoaks)

Photo credit: Lime Pictures
Photo credit: Lime Pictures

On screen in Hollyoaks, Grace Black and Freddie Roscoe were the most bitter of enemies. At one point, Grace was even hell-bent on murdering Freddie as revenge for him killing her villainous father Fraser.

In real life though, Tamara Wall and Charlie Clapham decided they liked each other a whole lot more than their characters did and they dated for a while in 2015. However, when quizzed about romancing co-stars in 2016 once they'd split up, Charlie appeared to have cooled on the idea.

"As I'm getting older, I think more that mixing business and pleasure maybe is not the best idea," he told the Leicester Mercury. "But we're a company of young actors and actresses. It would be strange if relationships weren't happening."

7. Claire King and Peter Amory (Emmerdale)

Photo credit: ITV/REX/Shutterstock
Photo credit: ITV/REX/Shutterstock

Most Emmerdale fans will remember this off-screen scandal, but soap viewers who only really know Claire from her recent stint as Coronation Street's Erica Holroyd may be slightly less familiar with it.

While playing Dales superbitch Kim Tate, Claire fell for her on-screen stepson Peter Amory, who played Chris Tate in the ITV show. The pair tied the knot in 1994, but it all turned sour when Claire left Emmerdale and Peter was accused of an affair with his co-star Samantha Giles, who still appears in Emmerdale as Bernice.

Never one to shy away from speaking her mind, Claire has often told the story of how she discovered the affair when Samantha's then-husband sent her a letter revealing what was going on.

Fortunately, Claire and Samantha later made up when they both attended Emmerdale legend Richard Thorp's funeral in 2014. Speaking to The Mirror, Claire revealed: "She came straight up to me and said sorry. She said she knew it was a long time ago, but she wanted to say sorry for everything that had gone on. I thought, 'Good on you girl' for apologising, and agreed that it was way in our pasts. I've got nothing against her now."

8. Liam Fox and Nicole Barber-Lane (Emmerdale and Hollyoaks)

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Best known for their roles as loveable Emmerdale loser Dan and Hollyoaks favourite Myra, Nicole and Liam first met in Manchester in 1997 and tied the knot in 1999 – long before either of them had entered the soap world.

Nicole and Liam also have two children together, but in 2015, they announced the sad news that they'd be parting amicably after 16 years of marriage.

9. Tony Discipline and Jacqueline Jossa (EastEnders)

Photo credit: Dave M. Benett / Getty Images
Photo credit: Dave M. Benett / Getty Images

These days it's Jacqueline's marriage to former TOWIE star Dan Osborne that makes all the headlines, but if you cast your minds back a few years, she used to be all loved-up with her co-star Tony Discipline.

The pair actually first met at a nightclub when Tony was still auditioning for EastEnders, with Jacqueline later admitting that she didn't believe him when he told her that he might be joining her in the soap.

Jacqueline was proved wrong when Tony did land the role of Tyler Moon, and it didn't take long before they became love interests both on screen and off. The pair split in 2013 after a year and a half together.


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