Coronation Street actress Lucy-Jo Hudson finds love with Lewis Devine after split from Alan Halsall
In a twist worthy of a Coronation Street plot, Lucy-Jo Hudson has begun a new relationship with Lewis Devine after splitting from husband Alan Halsall
AFTER meeting on Corrie, they became one of the soap’s most enduring off-screen couples.
But just two months after announcing her split from co-star Alan Halsall, Lucy-Jo Hudson has found new love — with another former colleague.
The actress, 35, is dating panto pal Lewis Devine, who played her title character’s best mate Muddles in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs last year, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
In a further twist worthy of a Coronation Street plot, Lewis and Alan had become firm friends during the run at the Theatre Royal in St Helens, Merseyside.
Lewis, 30, has also met the couple’s four-year-old daughter, Sienna-Rae, with a snap of the four of them now deleted from Facebook.
Last night a pal said: “Lucy-Jo and Lewis shared an instant chemistry, but obviously she was married and didn’t act on it.
“After trying for months, she and Alan called time on their marriage and something slowly developed with Lewis.
They went public to their friends with their romance a few weeks ago and attended a wedding of one of Lewis’s relations together, but the news has been hard for Alan to take.
“He became mates with Lewis during the panto run, and they often hung out as a trio.
“They used to muck around backstage together, and at one point Lewis even changed his Facebook profile picture to one of the three of them and the couple’s daughter Sienna.
"So Alan feels like a bit of a mug. He is gutted.”
In pictures from the wedding of Lewis’s relative, the actress has her hand on her lover’s knee as the pair smile for the camera.
And wearing a dapper navy waistcoat, Lewis beams with an arm casually draped around his new girlfriend.
While Lucy-Jo has been a regular on TV for 15 years — starring as Corrie’s Katy Harris from 2002 to 2005, then in Wild At Heart as well as appearing on Loose Women — Lewis is no showbiz newbie.
A kids’ theatre company boss, he is a former child star himself.
He got his big break when he won singing show Stars In Their Eyes Kids in 2002, wowing viewers with his Donny Osmond impression.
The youngster then made appearances on This Morning, The Big Breakfast and former Channel 4 soap Brookside.
According to his website, he has also appeared in various adverts including an Adidas commercial alongside Steven Gerrard and an official Grand National Aintree ad.
And he was winning rave reviews as Snow White’s best chum Muddles — opposite comic Johnny Vegas as the Magic Mirror — when his relationship with Lucy-Jo blossomed.
One photo posted on the actress’s Instagram page shows the pair enjoying a night out catching up with Jay Lusted, who played one of the dwarves in the panto that ended in January.
It was posted on April 29, just four days before Alan and Lucy-Jo announced their split.
She captioned the picture: “What a gorgeous night I had celebrating my mate @dwarfmanjay ‘surprise’ 30th birthday last night!! What a laugh @lewisdevine we had reminiscing #snowy#cheeky #muddles #pantodays xxx”.
Another photo, posted four weeks earlier, is a cast shot with Lucy-Jo and Lewis side by side, as the actress holds little Sienna-Rae.
Underneath it she wrote: “Thank you for having Sienna and I yesterday afternoon! What a fantastic show!
“Loved catching up with some of my old mates @dwarfmanjay @lewisdevine and Simon Foster. Amazing cast, amazing show! Sienna loved it xxx.”
Details of his ex’s new relationship have come as a blow to Alan, 35, who has played the Street’s lovable mechanic Tyrone Dobbs for more than 20 years.
But his relationship with Lucy-Jo has been far from plain sailing in recent years.
The pair met on the set of the long-running ITV1 soap when she joined the cast in 2002.
They started dating in 2004.
They went public with their romance the following year, revelling in their loved-up status at a series of red carpet events.
They married in June 2009 and their daughter was born in September 2013.
Then in March 2016 the couple announced what turned out to be a short-lived separation.
Assuring fans the split was amicable, they released a statement declaring: “Lucy-Jo Hudson and Alan Halsall are sad to announce that they have separated.
“They have shared many wonderful years together and will remain close friends.
“They ask for privacy at this emotional time, to allow both to focus on their beautiful daughter Sienna-Rae, to ensure her continued happiness.”
They stayed on good terms and because they shared parental duties, met up regularly.
Two months later they announced their reunion, saying they were giving their romance a second shot.
Then in May this year the pair again announced they were splitting, after nine years of marriage.
Within days Lucy-Jo, who began her new role in Hollyoaks as Donna-Marie Quinn earlier this month, had trawled through tweets from happier days, erasing tributes to her recently estranged ex.
Posts deleted included one crediting Alan with making her birthday special: “What a night, what a laugh! Best birthday present ever. Thank you so much @alanhalsall.”
Another said: “Soap Awards 2017 with my handsome hubby @alan- halsall xxx.”
For his part, Alan splashed out £35,000 on a convertible Mercedes, then jetted off on a lads’ holiday to Barcelona, declaring on Instagram: “Let the games begin.”
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A source told The Sun on Sunday: “He’s been joking he’s having a mid-life crisis and he treated himself to a new car five days ago.
“It’s a difficult time for both of them.
They’re devastated that the marriage is over but have vowed to stay friends. They still really care for each other.”
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