Who is Claire Skinner, is she dating her Outnumbered co-star Hugh Dennis and does she have any children?
We fell in love with her as stressed out mum Sue Brockman on the BBC show - and now she's fallen for her Outnumbered co-star
ENGLISH actress Claire Skinner is most recognisable from her role in Outnumbered, playing the lovably stressed mum-of-three.
As well as the popular show, Claire has performed in other tv shows, theatre, radio and film, working with a number of famed directors.
Who is Claire Skinner?
Born in Hemel Hempstead in 1965, a future in acting was always Claire's dream, despite describing herself as an intensely shy child.
Speaking to the in 2009, she said: "It was almost debilitating."
But the nerves totally disappeared when it came to performing, with Claire saying she was able to shake off her shyness as soon as an opportunity to perform presented itself.
After studying at the world renowned London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Claire went on to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Her early screen roles included parts on the British comedy Life Begins and working alongside Lenny Henry in Chef!
Then in 2007, she landed the role as Sue Brockman in Outnumbered, a hugely successful BBC sitcom which won several awards and saw her star opposite Hugh Dennis, who played her husband Pete.
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Claire has also appeared in Doctor Who and appeared in Bridget Jones's Diary.
She has a large portfolio of theatre performances, performing in many Shakespearean adaptations as well as modern plays.
In 2022, she stepped into the role of Chief Superintendent Ormond in popular detective show McDonald and Dodds.
Who is her former husband Charles Palmer and does Claire have any children?
Claire married Charles Palmer, a TV director who has worked on the likes of Doctor Who and Lark Rise to Candleford, in 2001.
The pair have two children together - sons William and Thomas - who were born in 1999 and 2002.
While they had been together for 19 years, Claire and Charles split in late 2015.
Claire continued to refer to him as "my husband" for a period after their separation and had ended things completely by 2016.
Is she dating Hugh Dennis?
The Sun exclusively revealed in June 2018 how Claire had begun dating Hugh Dennis.
Hugh and Claire had been dating for over a year when the story broke about their off-screen romance.
The relationship began after Claire split from Charles Palmer.
Actors Hugh and Claire, who play stressed-out parents Pete and Sue Brockman in the show, got together in March 2017 after their marriages broke down.
A friend said: "It's always a sad moment when a marriage breaks up. So to have found each other after the ending of both their relationships is rather lovely."
Before the relationship was publicly revealed, Hugh and Claire had been spotted together several times but it was assumed they were out as friends.
The pal said: ";They’ve been out in public quite a lot, just no one has quite cottoned on to it."
Daniel Roche, who plays the couple's on-screen son in Outnumbered, said the pair had actually been "going out for years".
The happy couple keeps their relationship private and have been together since 2018.