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LOOK WHO'S DATING HUGH
Outnumbered ‘parents’ Hugh Dennis, 56, and Claire Skinner, 53, are a real-life couple after both their marriages broke down
OUTNUMBERED’S Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner have been in a relationship for more than a year and are said to be blissfully happy and in love.
Hugh, 56 — Claire’s TV husband in the hit BBC One sitcom — is now her real-life partner after she split from husband Charles Palmer.
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The couple, who play stressed-out parents Pete and Sue Brockman in the show, got together in March last year 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.”
Pals said 53-year-old Claire, a mum of two, split from TV director Charles 2½ years ago — but kept it quiet and still referred to him as “my husband”.
Hugh has two children with second wife Kate Abbot-Anderson but they separated in 2015 after 19 years together.
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The friend added: “They were going through marriage breakdowns at very similar times, but it was quite a while after their separations that they got together last year.
“Between the end of the last series of Outnumbered in 2014 and the Christmas special in 2016, they didn’t actually see each other for two years.
“They’ve always been really friendly but they were living their own lives until they were both single.”
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In recent months 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.”
The pair have been open with relatives, friends and colleagues about their love.
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Claire has sons William, 19, and Henry, 16, with Charles, who she married in 2001.
Hugh, who is a regular on panel show Mock The Week and appears in sitcom Not Going Out, is dad to Freddie, 21, and Meg, 19.
On Outnumbered they are parents to Jake, Ben and Karen, played by Tyger Drew-Honey, now 22, Daniel Roche, 18, and Ramona Marquez, 17.
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Additional reporting: Howell Davies and Andy Halls