Jill Halfpenny is a regular fixture on our TV screens thanks to her roles in gripping dramas such as The Feud, The Long Shadow and The Cuckoo.
The actress, who made her name as a series regular on Byker Grove and later Coronation Street, is also a radio broadcaster, author and has a thriving career on stage. But how much do you know about her love life? Read on to find out about her previous relationships and the tragic death of her partner.
Jill’s marriage to Craig Conway
In 2007, Jill married Craig Conway, an actor, writer and producer who has appeared in a variety of stage plays, films and TV shows, including the Father Brown, Casualty and . The couple divorced in 2010 after welcoming one child together, Harvey Reece, who is now 16.
Jill’s relationship with Matt Janes and his tragic death
Over the years, Jill has been very candid about her grief following the death of her long-term partner Matt Janes, who died after suffering a heart attack in the gym in 2017.
Speaking to Line of Duty star Craig Parkinson on his podcast, The Two Shot Podcast, Jill explained how his death mirrored that of her father, Colin Halfpenny, who also died of a heart attack in 1979, when the actress was just four years old.
© UKTV“In January 2017, my partner, in very similar circumstances to my dad, he went to a peloton class at the gym, and he had a heart attack and died,” Jill said.
“My grief at losing Matt, my partner, was so brutal and so shocking but then what happened was it brought out all of the grief from my dad as well. It was like dealing with a double loss – a loss I’d never actually dealt with,” she continued.
The Three Girls star added: “I just found myself thinking, ‘Oh my god, this is unbearable. What am I going to do? I cannot cope. I just want cessation, this feeling to stop.'”
© SOPA ImagesJill’s new love
In June last year, Jill revealed that she had found love again during an appearance on The One Show to promote her new memoir, A Life Reimagined, which explores “love, loss and life after tragedy”.
“When you lose a partner, a romantic relationship, it can sometimes feel like betrayal if you move on,” explained the EastEnders actress, who lives in Tynemouth with her son, Harvey.
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockShe continued: “It’s not, you absolutely are allowed to be happy again, but I think if you do the processing and the healing and do the work, you can go into another relationship and be happy again. But if you haven’t done that work, there will always be a part of you somewhere else.
“I fortunately feel that I do deserve to be happy and I do feel happy, and it’s really nice to be in love again,” added the actress.
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