09 January 2024 , 19:00
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Angela Griffin has had a rollercoaster ride when it comes to finding love.
The 47-year-old shot to fame with her breakout role as Fiona Middleton on Coronation Street when she was just 16 and went on to star in Holby City, before being cast as DS Lizzie Maddox in the final two series of ITV's detective drama Lewis.
Leeds-born Angela also starred in BBC drama Cutting It before joining former co-stars Jason Merrells and Denise Welch in BBC school drama Waterloo Road, where she plays teacher Kim Campbell. She returned to the role last May after a 16-year break, and most recently starred in Netflix horror Choose or Die along with Amazon Prime's Christmas movie Your Christmas Or Mine?
But what do we know about the actor's life away from the camera? While she has been unlucky in love on screen, Angela has been married for 17 years and has two teenage daughters. But it hasn't always been plain sailing. Before settling down she shared a tumultuous relationship with fellow actor and much-loved star Will Mellor, who recently starred in ITV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office. Here, we take a look at the love life of Angela Griffin...
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She says she and Will are now friends (Getty Images)The former Coronation Street star and Will Mellor were rarely out of the headlines before their split in 1999. According to the Bolton News, Will claimed they were on the cusp of getting married when they parted ways - much to Angela's annoyance. "That's rubbish," she said in 2002. "It made me really angry when I heard what he had said in that magazine interview."
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Angela also told The Mirror that after the drama of their romance and split, she'd sworn off dating other actors. "I'm steering clear," she said in 2001. And of the intense interest that surrounded their romance at the time, she continued: "Maybe 50 per cent of the stories were untrue, but some were spot on."
However, she revealed that despite their difficult break-up, they'd found a way to be friends. "We're still good mates, though," she added. "Is that grown-up of me? Or more like manipulative moves - 'We're just friends, but look what you could have had!'"
Angela is still loved up with husband Jason, who she married in 2004 (Instagram)It was a happy ending for Angela as she found love with fellow actor Jason Milligan, whom she first met in the late Nineties, despite having sworn off dating others in the limelight. After a whirlwind romance, the couple went on to tie the knot at Babington House - the Somerset outpost of Soho House - in July 2006.
They have Angela's brother-in-law to thank for their lasting romance. He is none other than Mr Max Beesley, who is the step-brother of her husband Jason. She told The Guardian: "My friend went on a date with Jason’s brother Max Beesley; she didn’t want to go on her own so Max brought Jason with him. Nothing happened that night – we were both in other relationships. Then, about six years later, we met on a night out, and nine months later I was pregnant."
Although Jason still works as an actor, having previously starred in Where The Heart Is, Waterloo Road and the 2021 film The Bull, these days the Newcastle-bon star is also a continuity announcer for ITV. As they approach their 20th wedding anniversary, Angela and Jason look as loved up as ever and try to enjoy date nights as much as possible.
Sharing the secret to what makes their relationship works, she told The Mirror: "We make each other laugh and are dead kind and nice to each other. Our family dynamic is the most important thing to us. There is nothing that could happen that would want to make me break that up."
Angela is a mum to two teenage daughters, Tallulah and Melissa (Instagram)"We would work through anything," she insisted. "I’d go to counselling for 4,000 years if I had to, to make sure that my kids have their mum and dad living in the same house, and I think Jason is the same. It’s not perfect, nobody’s relationship is perfect. But family is the most important thing for us."
Angela is a mum to two teenage daughters, Tallulah and Melissa and the family all live together in a house in north London. She got pregnant with Tallulah nine months after getting together with Jason and her firstborn turned 19 last year.
Wishing her a happy birthday on Instagram, proud mum Angela shared a picture of Tallulah – who could be following her famous mum into acting - with huge '19' balloons. In the caption she wrote: “And just like that... #19. Happy birthday to my firstborn life changer.
"What a marvellous young woman you have become. Super proud of all that you have done and where you’re going. Keep doing what you’re doing my love. We love you so much xxx." Youngest daughter Melissa turned 16 in June. Posting a similar snap with '16' balloons, Angela wrote: "Well that’s gone in the blink of an eye! My June-born!!! Happiest of birthdays to my clever, talented, beautiful on the inside and out, youngest born."
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