Outnumbered: Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner to appear on TV for the first time as a real-life couple

The Outnumbered parents will appear on TV together for the first time since confirming their real-life relationship, after it was announced that the show is returning for a Christmas special.

Actors Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis confirmed their relationship in 2022 and they are still together today.

Outnumbered will return to the BBC for the first time in eight years for a Christmas special.

The popular BBC1 sitcom about the Brockman family aired from 2007 to 2014 and a one-off Christmas special aired in 2016.

In the new special, which will star Dennis and Skinner in addition to all the previous child performers from the programme, Sue and Peter, the parents, strive to get their family together to celebrate a conventional Christmas. It will follow the action in Pete and Sue Brockman's reduced home as they adjust to the difficulties of raising their adult children.

BBC iPlayer and BBC1 will both air the episode.

The real-life couple quietly dated for a year before confirming the rumours in 2018.

That year, Hugh told Mail on Sunday: “I am very, very happy. We are so very happy. It’s nice. And yes, it’s so lovely,” the comedian and actor added of their romance.

A friend of the couple told the Sun that they started dating after their respective marriages ended.

“They were going through marriage breakdowns at very similar times but it was quite a while after their separations that they got together last year.

“They’ve always been really friendly but they were living their own lives until they were both single.”

The show was known for being semi-improvised, and the writers typically provided the child performers with last-minute directions rather than having them learn entire lines.

Daniel Roche, Ramona Marquez and Tyger Drew-Honey will also be making a comeback in the Christmas special.