Former Emmerdale star Anthony Quinlan has been enjoying time away with his soap-star girlfriend Nikki Sanderson. Anthony portrayed the role of Peter Barton on the ITV soap from 2013 until 2019.
His onscreen brother Ross Barton, played by Michael Parr made his comeback to the Dales in November last year after a six-year hiatus. This led to fans speculating about the return of Anthony to the soap, after his character left when grieving about the death of his dad and little brother on the soap.
He decided that it was time for him to move on and he planned to move to Liverpool to be with Ross. That was the last time fans seen Ross on-screen, before starring on Emmerdale, Anthony was better known for playing Gilly Roach on Hollyoaks.
The actor reportedly first crossed paths with Nikki Sanderson in 2011, but the pair started dating in 2021. Nikki kick-started her acting career as Candice Stowe in Coronation Street before landing her current role as Maxine Minniver in Hollyoaks.
Nikki is a long-standing character on Hollyoaks, her first appearance was in 2012 and she has become a legend of the soap over the years. The couple often share updated from their person lives on social media and have recently shared snaps from holiday together.
Anthony captioned a series of photos of his time away “Spent a week living our best lives… eating, relaxing, and pretending we don’t have responsibilities. Fully recharged but want to go back!”
The Hollyoaks star responded “The BEST time with you… always” alongside red heart emojis. She also shared memories of their trip to Cyprus together on her own Instagram.
Writing “Happy Holiday Dump… Round 1”, the soap star received plenty of comments from fans. One follower wrote “Looked like you had a fab time. Have a lovely week peeps stay safe.”
A second fan commented “You two are such a cute couple xxx” and another said “Love you guys beautiful photos.” Other supportive messages included “I just love you guys together #couplegoals” and “Ooh I recognise you the fella from Emmerdale? am I right? I know you nikki was on corrie too.”
In an interview with OK! this month, Nikki confirmed that she will be leaving Hollyoaks. She said: “Deciding to leave was an incredibly difficult decision for me because Maxine is a huge, huge part of my life – and a part of my life that I’ve loved.
“It’s difficult to think, ‘It’s time’, and it wasn’t an instant or overnight decision, it took me a long time to make it and it was something I genuinely fought with myself about, but I’m lucky that I could talk to people around me and get people’s opinions. I’m grateful that I’ve had the stability for so long, now I’ve just got to embrace the instability of not knowing what’s next.”
Last year Nikki celebrated her 40th birthday with a dreamy getaway to Mallorca with Anthony. She posted photos of their trip on Instagram, writing that it was “just what” they needed.
“Happy Monday,” she said. “A little break is just what we needed, lovely birthday treat for us both. Here’s to turning 40 well for me anyway… one more year for you @anthonyquinny #holiday #happyholiday #bankholiday #vacation #sun #happy #love #sunshine #chill #bikini #pinkbikini #mirrorselfie #40”.