Suranne Jones has revealed that now husband Laurence Akers had already been set up by pals with Carol Vorderman when they met.
The Doctor Foster actress, 45, first crossed paths with the producer, 50, at pal and former co-star Sally Lindsay’s 2013 wedding, two years before they themselves tied the knot.
Single and ready to mingle Suranne, who shares a seven-year-old son with her husband, recalled asking her former Coronation Street boss at the reception to set her up after he’d already introduced the bride and groom.
She told The Mirror: ‘He said “I do have a friend, he’s over there”, Laurence was sitting next to Carol Vorderman.’
Laurence confirmed: ‘My mates were trying to pair me off with Carol Vorderman.’
Suranne explained: ‘When I went out to the balcony to have a fag, Laurence came out and lit my cigarette and offered me his jacket’.
‘Later I was dancing with the actor Peter Eccleston, the partner of Antony Cotton from Coronation Street. Laurence came over and said, “Can I cut in?” But he took Peter instead of me and was flinging him around the dance floor. I thought, “Oh, he’s very funny” We swapped numbers.’
Suranne Jones, 45, has revealed that now husband Laurence Akers, 50, had already been set up by pals with Carol Vorderman, 63, when they met (pictured 2022)
The Doctor Foster actress, first crossed paths with the producer at former co-star Sally Lindsay’s 2013 wedding, two years before they themselves tied the knot (Carol Vorderman pictured)
Meanwhile Laurence branded the start of their relationship ‘complicated’ due to him still living with an ex at the time.
He told the publication: ‘I thought Suranne was stunning, really down to earth and funny. I was living with someone else but we’d split up and neither of us could afford to move out. Suranne said it sounded complicated and to call her once it was sorted. It gave me the motivation to finally move out.’
They welcomed their son into the world in March 2016, but have kept any details about him tightly under wraps.
Together the couple run their own production company TeamAkers Productions with Suranne planning to spend more time behind the camera.
She said in December : ‘Me and my husband, we set up our production company and made [new drama] Maryland and we just made our first documentary’.
‘We just got two commissions that will go into production next year. I love it. I’m hoping to eventually make projects that I’m not in. I can have a couple of tea and chill’.
‘It would be good to not do everything. But I’m very excited about our projects next year.’
It comes after Suranne admitted she is ‘constantly trying to balance her life and career as a mother’.
Single and ready to mingle Suranne, who shares a seven-year-old son with her husband, recalled asking her former Coronation Street boss (Suranne and Laurence in 2019)
She said her boss had already introduced the bride and groom (pictured)
Suranne said: ‘He said “I do have a friend, he’s over there”, Laurence was sitting next to Carol Vorderman. When I went out to the balcony to have a fag, Laurence came out and lit my cigarette and offered me his jacket’
The star recently spoke about how she and her character DCI Amy Silva in BBC’s Vigil are both women constantly striving for more.
Suranne said she and Amy are also both women who are trying to ‘balance’ their lives and careers, and detailed how she too has struggled with ‘anxiety’.
She said: ‘Being a woman who constantly wants to prove herself and feels like a responsibility of many people, when we’re out filming and when crews are doing lots for us – I think Amy and I share that.
‘I have a child. I share that [with Amy]. I’m constantly trying to balance my life and my career. I share that.’
Suranne, who has previously opened up about living with anxiety, added: ‘I’ve had issues with anxiety, which Amy has had. So there’s a lot of things that I can relate to. That’s the beauty of finding the characters where you can go, “that’s the one” when you read it.’
She spoke of her joy that so many dramas, like Vigil, have strong women in lead roles.
She added: ‘I think we just don’t take our foot off the gas – that’s the big thing. From I started, 25 years ago, things have come a long way. There are so many people who can put our stories, which is fabulous, and TV has changed.
‘So I think the key is just to not settle and to keep finding the stories and pushing those people to come forward.’
