Inside Emmerdale legend Chris Chittell’s real life love story with ITV co-star
TAKE a closer look at Emmerdale legend Chris Chittell’s off-screen love story with his ITV co-star Lesley Dunlop.
Emmerdale’s longest-serving actor Chris, 75, plays Eric Pollard, who is in a relationship with Lesley’s character Brenda Walker. The lovebirds have the soap and their on-screen relationship to thank for their real-life romance.
Chris has been in the soap since 1986 and Lesley, 67, made her way to the dales in 2008. Since then, their characters have had a rocky on-off relationship and they’ve recently weathered another storm, as Eric has just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but didn’t want to share this distressing news with Brenda.
Instead, he decided to break up with Brenda, leaving her devastated. But, after a change of heart, Eric opened up her and she vowed to stick by him.
And, just like the fan-favourite Emmerdale couple they play, Chris and Lesley’s real-life relationship is solid.
Chris and Leslie got engaged in 2015, marrying the following year, on June 18, in Cornwall.
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The couple enjoyed an intimate ceremony with their close family and friends. Members of their TV family were also present, including Emmerdale stars Bhasker Patel, Sam Hall and Nicola Wheeler.
They looked lovely, all dressed up for their summer wedding, with Lesley looking radiant in an off-white gown, fairytale-esque gown and veil, complete with a flower crown. Meanwhile, Chris looked equally impressive, suited and booted in a three-piece beige ensemble, which he paired with blue suede shoes.
When they first met, their connection was instant, according to Chris. “It was weird. Somehow we’d never met before and we just kept bumping into each other at work,” he told the Daily Record.
“I can’t even remember if I asked her on a date or she asked me, but she is wonderful and we’re very happy,” he revealed.
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Chris added that the pair absolutely love working together, but they do draw a line between work and home.
“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.”
It has its benefits, though. Being a real-life couple made their relationship storyline a lot easier to film when Emmerdale had strict social-distancing rules in place because they were part of the same household bubble.
Lesley had previously said that she disliked it when the pair would have to do romantic scenes together in front of the Emmerdale crew because it felt like they should be solely private moments.
However, having worked together for so long, it seems like it’s become less of an issue.
The couple each have two children from previous relationships, Chris with his ex-wife Caroline Hunt and Lesley with her former partner Christopher Guard.
