Soapland isn't often the place for successful relationships but in the real world, Emmerdale stars Zoe Henry and Jeff Hordley have made it work.
Avid fans of the ITV soap will probably be aware that the acting couple are happily married but the pair have actually been together for 28 years having met way before finding fame in the Dales.
Zoe is best known for playing Emmerdale's Rhona Goskirk who is currently having to face her fiancè Marlon Dingle's fight back to health after suffering a stroke in heartbreaking scenes aired earlier this week. The storyline will follow Marlon's perspective as he faces his toughest battle yet and follow how his family, friends, and loved ones will come to terms with the diagnosis and how it will impact their future and the wider community.
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Meanwhile, Jeff is best known to viewers for playing Emmerdale legend Cain Dingle who will also be featured in Marlon's storyline as they are cousins. Viewers have seen Cain worrying this week as Marlon's health scare reminded him of his own when he was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and had to undergo urgent surgery to get rid of the clot on his brain.
Luckily, Zoe and Jeff's off-screen life is a far cry from what their characters are currently going through.
Forget childhood sweethearts, the couple are drama sweethearts as sparks flew back in 1994 when Zoe and Jeff attended the Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show earlier this week Zoe said: "We got together at drama school. We've been together 28 years. With the connection on set, we were together for 10 years before that as well. We got together in 1994, I believe."
And even though they have co-starred in the soap for all these years, presenter Lorraine, 62, pointed out that Zoe has very few scenes with her husband, who is from Oldham, if at all. So much so, fans went wild back in December when the pair finally shared a rare scene together.
"No, which is great," Zoe, 48, said with a laugh, "It just means we have a very separate existence at work and I think we both appreciate that and like that."
Jeff, 52, has also previously told Soaplife: "We don't film at the same time so we can share the childcare. "I don't think we'll ever have a storyline together – Cain and Rhona are too different," he said. "Cain thinks Rhona's a bit of a snobby cow. For me and Zoe, it works well."
And the pair haven't fallen out on set. "We're not the type of people to harbour grudges," he said on Mike Artistik's Ego Podcast last year. "I can honestly say that we've not been on set and said, 'I'm not speaking to you at the moment. That's never really happened."
But they do, of course, support each other, with Zoe telling Lorraine that Jeff is currently "taking the weight" at home as she films Rhona's heartbreaking storyline as she deals with the aftermath after Marlon's stroke.
"We often do line learning together. This time, Jeff's been amazing. He's just taking the weight of what's going on at home," Zoe, who joined Emmerdale as Rhona back in 2001 for a brief stint before returning for 8 months in 2002 and returning again in 2010.
"Obviously we've got two kids, two dogs, we've got an allotment and he's just managing all of that. He's about to get busy as I sort of quieten down so we'll swap the baton then."
But while they may not film scenes together, they're there for each other, especially when they are both shooting hard-hitting storylines.
Zoe previously told The Sun: "It's important to have a laugh in-between takes so upsetting stories don’t get you down too much. Working on the same show as Jeff, who plays Cain Dingle, also helps because if one of us is having a bad day then the other will completely understand."
Zoe and Jeff married in 2003 and share two children together, daughter Violet who was born in 2005, and son Stan who was born in 2008.
Jeff actually decided to propose to Zoe on the same day that she won an award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Manchester Evening News's theatre awards. He'd been planning to pop the question for some time, but vowed to do it that day if Zoe was successful in her category.
He told us: "I thought it was going to be a nice way to round off the day. Neither of us were sure that Zoe would win the award she had been nominated for, as she was up against Amanda Donohoe.
"But I had been planning to propose for a some time and thought to myself: 'If she wins today, I'll do it today'. When she won I leaped out of my seat in front of her. Then it dawned on me that her winning meant that I had to propose - and that's when the nerves set in. Fortunately for me, she said yes."
And the wedding was a very private affair as he promised before the big day. He told the Manchester Evening News at the time: "OK and Hello magazines won't be there. No way. I like to keep my private life to myself. I just wouldn't do that. I wouldn't want to bring that kind of intrusive pressure on myself or on my family and my friends."
The couple live in their own family countryside aboe that features a very impressive allotment. Zoe has been known to share pictures of the family's latest fruit and veg and so on with her Twitter account.
Back in 2019, Zoe told The Sun’s Fabulous Magazine last year: "We have an allotment and it’s so therapeutic to have your hands in the earth. We’re mindful of what we eat, but watching our diet isn’t about being on TV, it’s more about general well-being, as Jeff has Crohn’s disease."
And during her appearance on Lorraine's self-titled show, a rather large cauliflower was brought it. Laughing as a picture of Jeff holding the humongous vegetable appeared on-screen, Zoe said: "It fed us for a week, I am not even joking, it fed a family of four for a week.
"I honestly, in 48 years, I have never - let alone grown a cauliflower that size - but had never seen one that size. In fact, that picture doesn't really do it justice it was huge, and it tasted gorgeous. I had never been prouder of anything apart from my two kids."
Lorraine agreed and said: "And isn't there just something lovely about being outside, especially in the last couple of years that we have had? Just being outside and growing your own stuff that you can then eat, amazing!"
"It is, it fills us with joy," Zoe replied. "And we have been doing it for 15 years this is not a new thing for us. We still get it wrong, and we still have disasters."
Jeff has been open about his health battle. Before finishing up his degree in 1996, Jeff was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.
In 2019, Zoe told Loose Women : "Jeff has Crohn's. He was diagnosed when he was about 18, so he was 23 when I met him, and it's sort of changed our lives.
"There's a lot to be said about mental health and having your hands in the soil – that's a big one for me. For Jeff, it's the health benefits of eating what we've grown. It's great to share with my kids as well… not that they love it, they hate it. But I'm working on that!"
