WHEN sparks fly on-screen, it’s not surprising that romance sometimes blossoms when the cameras stop rolling.
That seems to have been the case for Casualty hunk Olly Rix, who’s dating another female co-star just months after his whirlwind fling with actress Helen George on Call the Midwife.
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The 40-year-old, who plays surgeon Flynn Byron on the long-running BBC show, has grown close to Anna Chell, 28, who plays nurse Jodie Whyte.
An insider said Olly is enjoying a “blossoming romance” with Anna, while snaps of the couple carving each other’s names into stone feature on Olly’s Instagram account.
Here we take a look at other soap lotharios who fell for their co-stars – including a messy love triangle in the Dales and a Corrie legend who admits to an “uncontrollable” sex drive.
Co-star fling while ex was pregnant
In May 2022, we reported how EastEnders star Max Bowden, now 30, had grown close to his co-star Shona McGarty, now 33, after splitting from his pregnant lover, insurance exec Roisin Buckle, now 40.
The actor, who played Ben Mitchell, assured his girlfriend he was not seeing anyone else when they separated.
But Roisin claimed she found out Max was in a relationship with Shona just weeks after their split – and said he missed key scans and events, leaving her in tears.
She gave birth to a baby boy in September 2022.
Meanwhile Shona and Max – who went Instagram official days before Roisin’s due date – broke up after six months of dating, but remained on good terms.
Opening up about the split in June 2023, Shona told the Mirror: “We’re actually better than ever. It’s a friendship, we’re such in a good place.
“You take a risk, and you do something and it doesn’t work out, but that’s life, you’ve got to take that risk.”
Coronation Street and Emmerdale humiliated at British Soap Awards as rival soap wins EIGHT gongs
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Following his romance with Shona, Max moved on with fellow EastEnder Danielle Harold, 33, who played Lola Pierce.
They secretly dated for a number of years before a bitter split which saw them unfollow each other on Instagram.
Now Max – who was axed from EastEnders in December 2023 following a showdown with bosses over his party lifestyle – has gone public with his new girlfriend.
He grew close to co-star Tori Allen-Martin 39, after appearing together on stage in the musical Midnight Cowboy.
‘Axed over co-star romance’
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Marc Bannerman, 51, was played lothario Gianni di Marco on EastEnders from 1998 to 2000 – having fibbed that he was half-Italian when he was actually born in Ireland.
The heartthrob dated Loose Women’s Nadia Sawalha, 60, while she too was appearing on the soap as businesswoman Annie Palmer, with whom his character had a fling.
Marc was once so popular he claimed he had to donate a sack of knickers sent to him by female viewers to Oxfam.
But he later claimed he was axed from EastEnders over his real-life romance with Nadia because it was lessening his appeal for female fans.
After he was given the boot, Marc said he fell into depression, his weight ballooned to over 17st and his drinking spiralled.
He told the Mirror: “I’ve not kept in touch with the other Di Marco actors because our departure was so traumatic. When I first found myself out of the show I didn’t realise at the time but I started eating all the wrong things and I was boozing far too much.”
Marc was back in the spotlight in 2007 when he appeared on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here – and controversially grew close to his campmate Cerys Matthews.
He was in a relationship with his Footballer’s Wives: Extra Time co-star Sarah Matravers at the time, and confessed to behaving like a “rat”, having broken his girlfriend’s heart.
Marc said: “I just developed feelings for someone in there and I’ve got a Mrs at home, I’m a rat. I can’t look for a scapegoat. The buck stops here.”
Marc and Cerys continued dating post-jungle, but called it quits a year later.
Cheating scandal
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Claire King’s Emmerdale character Kim Tate has had her share of agony, but the actress herself is no stranger to drama.
In 1994 she married co-star Peter Amory, 60, who played her on-screen step-son Chris.
But their 10-year marriage was derailed when he was accused of having an affair with Emmerdale co-star Samantha Giles, now 53, while Claire, now 63, was working on Bad Girls in London.
While he and Samantha deny anything happening during the marriage, Claire was convinced it did.
“I had a feeling that something was going on,” she told the Mirror back in 2005.
“I was working in London and we were spending less and less time together. I was travelling back to Yorkshire every weekend.
“I remember Pete saying that I only came back to see my dogs and horses… and I thought: ‘Well, yeah, and to catch you at it!'”
Claire’s suspicions were seemingly confirmed when Samantha’s then-partner penned a letter claiming their spouses were indeed cheating.
Claire also claimed Samantha had apologised to her at Richard Thorpe’s funeral.
‘Uncontrollable’ libido
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Bill Roache, 93, has played Ken Barlow since the very first episode of Corrie back in 1960 – and was a lothario both on and off screen.
He cheated on his first wife Anna Cropper multiple times, something he has since expressed regret over.
Speaking about his affairs – one of which was with fellow Weatherfield star Pat Phoenix, who played Elsie Tanner – he said: “There were plenty of girls around.
“I didn’t have any control over my own sex drive. I didn’t have the strength to control it. Every morning I woke up regretting and hurting.”
He added that his fling with Pat was a “one-off” after she invited him round to her flat.
“We had a few drinks, then one thing led to another,” he said. “At that time, she had a reputation and I had a reputation, and she felt we should meet, as it were. It just happened.”
I didn’t have any control over my own sex drive. I didn’t have the strength to control it. Every morning I woke up regretting and hurting
Bill Roache
Bill and Pat then fell out after a row during filming and she didn’t speak to him for two years afterwards.
When Anna discovered her husband’s infidelity she divorced him in 1974.
In an interview with Piers Morgan on his Life Stories show, Bill told how his sexual antics led fellow Coronation Street actors to nickname him “C**k Roache”.
Piers also pressed him on the number of women he’d slept with, asking if it was 1,000 – to which Bill replied: “Well, I’m not denying it.”
He went on to marry Sara Mottram in 1978, with whom he shares three children, but they divorced in 2009 – though Bill insisted he was always faithful to her.
Bill then dated TV weather girl Emma Jesson, nearly 40 years his junior, until 2013.
The actor is now celibate, and claimed: “I don’t need a sexual relationship anymore. Everything works, but I don’t have that need for sex I used to have.”
Shocking love triangle
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Things were frosty in the Dales in 2016 when it was claimed Danny Miller, now 34, was having an affair with his co-star Isabel Hodgins, now 31 – who was dating fellow Emmerdale actor Michael Parr, now 38.
At the time, Danny was in a relationship with Hollyoaks actress Kirsty-Leigh Porter, 36, who found incriminating texts on his phone.
It’s said to have caused fireworks, with angry cast members splitting into two camps.
The Sun reported: “The tension between them caused major problems on set, because Michael made it crystal clear he didn’t want to be around Danny.”
Kirsty was said to be devastated at the betrayal after forgiving Danny’s alleged infidelity with a prostitute when drunk.
And Michael was believed to be furious with pal Danny for going behind his back, but he stayed with Isabel until they finally split in 2019.
Danny is now happily married to childhood sweetheart Steph Jones, and the couple are expecting their third child.
Toxic split
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It’s never wise to mix business and pleasure, but Tina O’Brien, 41, appears to have missed that memo.
Aged 17, she dated Bruno Langley, 42, who played her on-screen boyfriend Todd Grimshaw, for a year.
When their romance went south, five months later she moved on to Bruno’s on-screen brother, Ryan Thomas, 41.
Thankfully her ex gave them her blessing, and initially Tina and Ryan seemed to be one of the most stable soap couples – though Tina said their relationship was tempestuous at times due to her bad temper.
The pair dated for six years and welcomed daughter Scarlett in 2008.
But a month before Scarlett’s first birthday, Ryan allegedly told Tina he didn’t love her anymore, leaving her “devastated”.
Tina claimed: “He said I didn’t do it for him any more. Those were his words. I was absolutely devastated. He said he didn’t want the responsibility of a relationship with me.”
Both moved on, with Ryan happily engaged to former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh, 33, with whom he shares two children.
Tina married personal trainer Adam Crofts, but earlier this year she reportedly called time on their 14-year relationship. They share a son, Beau.
According to a source, Tina is gutted about the breakup but is doing her best to stay positive and is enjoying her life as a single woman.
She and Ryan occasionally make digs at each other on social media but have remained relatively harmonious – until Tina was accused of damaging her ex’s car with a baseball bat during a late-night bust-up in March 2024.
