Claire Skinner has broken her silence on her relationship with her Outnumbered co-star Hugh Dennis, calling their romance a ‘lovely little life surprise’.
The pair starred in the BBC family comedy as harassed parents Pete and Sue Brockman, who are outnumbered by their three energetic children; Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey), Ben (Daniel Roche) and Karen (Ramona Marquez).
The series ran from 2007 to 2014 and was followed by a Christmas special in 2016, with the couple’s real-life romance coming to light once filming had wrapped.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine on Wednesday morning, Claire, 53, said of the romance: ‘We are (together). It’s a lovely little life surprise, isn’t it? It’s a lovely thing.’
Happy: Claire Skinner has broken her silence on her relationship with her Outnumbered co-star Hugh Dennis, calling their romance a ‘lovely little life surprise’
The couple did not start dating until after Outnumbered had finished filming, with Hugh, 57, recalling the beginnings of their relationship on an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live earlier this year.
He said: ‘That happened I suppose about a year and a half ago. We did an Outnumbered Christmas special about three years ago and then met up again about a year and a half ago.’
Hugh, 57, and Claire, 54, starred alongside Tyger Drew-Honey, 23, Ramona Marquez, 18, and Daniel Roche, 19, who played their children on the series.
Speaking about portraying the family, Claire said: ‘Hugh and I had to sort of, a lot of the time take a backseat and let them go and when they had gone home we’d do the more nuts and bolts stuff.’
Co-stars: The pair starred in the BBC family comedy as harassed parents Pete and Sue Brockman, who are outnumbered by their three energetic children
Real-life romance: Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine on Wednesday morning, Claire, 53, said of the romance: ‘We are (together). It’s a lovely little life surprise, isn’t it? It’s a lovely thing’
Interview: Claire and Hugh did not start dating until after Outnumbered had finished filming (pictured with Lorraine Kelly)
The Mail on Sunday understands Hugh and Claire live together in the £1.2million London penthouse flat Hugh bought following his split from his second wife, Kate Abbot-Anderson, in 2015.
Life Is Sweet actress Claire split from her TV director husband Charles Palmer two-and-a-half years ago after marrying in 2001.
Now divorced, they have two sons – William, 20, and Henry, 17. Mock The Week panelist Hugh has two children with estranged wife Kate – Freddie, 22, and Meg, 20.
The actor confirmed his romance with Claire to the Mail, saying: ‘I am very, very happy, we are so very happy. It’s nice and yes, it’s so lovely.’
Reunited: Outnumbered kids Ramona Marquez, 18, who played Karen, Daniel Roche, 19, who played Ben, and Tyger Drew-Honey, 23, who played Jake, enjoyed a sweet reunion recently
Sweet: The series ran from 2007 to 2014 and was followed by a Christmas special in 2016, with the couple’s real-life romance coming to light once filming had wrapped (pictured in 2012)
It is understood their family, close friends and a select few colleagues had been aware of their relationship, though they had chosen not to ‘go public’ with it.
A friend added: ‘It’s the most wonderful love story, they found one another at the right time in their lives and it’s all rather sweet.
‘Over the past few weeks there has been some talk within the acting world of them being an item.’
It is believed the couple have been open with their respective exes and their children about their relationship, which will come as a shock to loyal fans of the show.
Popular: The award-winning Outnumbered was watched by 9.4 million viewers at its peak and ran for five series between 2007 and 2014, with a one-off Christmas special in 2016
Despite the pair being seen out in public together several times, it was presumed that they were just good friends.
It comes after Tyger, Ramona and Daniel all looked unrecognisable in photographs from the day they all spent together in July, which both Daniel and Tyger shared on Instagram.
Daniel captioned his Instagram snaps: ‘The Old Firm’ followed by a fist-pump emoji, while Tyger wrote: ‘Always good to catch up with the fam’ alongside his shots.
The award-winning Outnumbered was watched by 9.4 million viewers at its peak and ran for five series between 2007 and 2014, with a one-off Christmas special in 2016.
Couple: Hugh and Claire live together in the £1.2million London penthouse flat Hugh bought in 2015