Coronation Street star Leanne Battersby actress Jane Danson has been married to Robert Beck for nearly 20 years, although her character’s love life is a very different story.
Leanne Battersby of Coronation Street, portrayed by Jane Danson, might be playing with fire after her latest stunt to set up her sister Toyah (Georgia Taylor) has backfired. The Bistro boss was livid upon discovering that Toyah continued her romance with Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), Leanne’s partner, behind her back.
In a twist fuelled by rage, Leanne craftily created a bank account in Toyah’s name and funnelled unauthorised payments from the restaurants business account into it.
Toyah found herself in hot water, arrested under suspicion of theft and fraud, utterly puzzled over who had enough personal knowledge to open the account.
The truth hit her like a ton of bricks when DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) dropped the bombshell about the accounts password ‘Rose2001’ which traced back to Leanne.
As Leanne feigned innocence to Nick, inwardly she seethed at his hesitation to side with Toyah. Eventually, he took a stand, showing Toyah the door for good, or so it seemed.
Unbeknownst to Leanne, Nick and Toyah have been cooking up a plan of their own. In a secret rendezvous, they vow to turn the tables on Leanne with Nick vowing: “We’ve got to make sure she doesn’t get away with this. Play her at her own game.”
Toyah is in full agreement, replying: “I wish it hadn’t come to this, but this is war.” Despite Leanne’s tumultuous love life stirring up the Street, off-screen actress Jane Danson leads a life far removed from her chaotic Corrie character, reports Lancs Live.
Away from the cameras, Jane has been happily married to her partner for almost two decades. Her other half is none other than fellow soap veteran Robert Beck, known for his extensive work across beloved series like Brookside, Emmerdale and Waterloo Road.
Robert once graced the cobbles of Coronation Street in 2008 and more recently portrayed Fergus Collins in Channel 4’s hit Hollyoaks, as well as making a fleeting return to Emmerdale last year as the villainous Damon ‘Harry’ Harris.
Importantly though, this wasn’t his first rodeo with Emmerdale, having previously played an important character in over 70 episodes back in the 90s. He appeared as Gavin Ferris, who was entangled in a romantic plotline with Bernice Blackstock (played by Samantha Giles) in 1999, only to be caught kissing Jason Kirk (portrayed by James Slark), squashing his plans with Bernice.
When news broke that Robert would be slipping back into his role in the Dales, Jane was open about how much she “owes” the show after all, it set the stage for their fateful meeting at the British Soap Awards in the late 90s, even if Jane admits she had harbored a crush on Robert since she was just 15.
Their friendship blossomed for years before taking a turn towards romance and eventual marriage in 2005. The couple then became proud parents to their first child, Harry, the following year and welcomed another son, Sam, in 2009.
In a heartfelt conversation with OK! Magazine, Jane revealed the foundation of her rock-solid marriage is a blend of affection and camaraderie. She expressed: “Me and my husband have been together for 22 years, and we’re really good friends as well as loving each other lots.”
Jane has been candid about the sorrow they’ve experienced as a couple, including enduring a miscarriage. The tragedy struck when they discovered at the three-month scan that their child had passed away.
During an emotional recollection in 2018, Jane talked about the immense grief they suffered, saying: “It was heartbreaking and it took us a long time to get over it I don’t think you ever do. There will always be that sadness there and there’ll always be that desire, but we’re getting older now and the boys are growing up. Sometimes you just have to appreciate what you have.”
The actress honoured Baby Loss Awareness Week in October 2022 by sharing a poignant post on Instagram: “The pain of having a ‘missed miscarriage’ will stay with me forever. My three months scan showed there was no heartbeat yet my body continued to be pregnant for some time. It was devastating.
“The worst thing that I did was not talk about what I was going through and somehow it made the heartache even more painful. In time I learnt to talk and express just how broken I felt.”
“With the love of my husband @robertbeck529 and support from my friends and family I began to heal. Sending love to anyone suffering.”