Coronation Street star Jodie Prenger, known for playing Glenda Shuttleworth on the ITV soap, has opened up about her real-life romance, which stands in stark contrast to her character's turbulent love life. Since joining the cobbles in 2022, Glenda has endured failed relationships, including a brief fling with Michael Bailey, but actress Jodie has found lasting happiness with businessman Simon Booth.
Speaking about her past, Jodie admitted to being drawn to the wrong type of men before meeting Simon, telling the Belfast Telegraph: "In real life I've been like a magnet to prats and Peter Pans who've caused me problems!" She added: "It's funny really because I'm a real Mills and Boon romantic girl who believes in love, but even I was starting to give up. I said to my mum, 'do you think it's my fault, do I make these men go loopy?'"
Jodie and Simon began dating in 2010 after being friends for years, and she praised him, saying: "He's wonderful, sensitive and it just hits you like a ton of bricks when you meet someone who ticks all the right boxes." The couple got engaged in 2012, with Jodie recalling the moment to The Sunday Post: "It was St Patrick's Day 2012 in an Irish oyster bar. That year I'd been invited to Buckingham Palace on St Valentine's Day for Charles Dickens' bicentenary... I had it in my mind Simon was going to propose on the day I'd met the Queen. We went to the restaurant but he didn't ask, which was a real shock. But when we were back on St Patrick's Day, at the same table, when I wasn't expecting it, he proposed."
However, their joy was tinged with sadness when Jodie's father, Marty, died of kidney cancer in March 2012. She told Hello! magazine: "I'm just so glad Dad knew I was going to be taken care of. Dad loved Simon like a son and always said I'd be safe with him. Simon's a good man with a good soul, just like my dad."
The couple now live on a farm with a menagerie of animals, including cows and chickens. Jodie previously told OK!: "I'm sure a nice calm life would be lovely, but I prefer to be outside feeding the chickens and the cows. I do love putting a posh frock on for a fancy social event, but I know what makes me happiest and that's the animals, even if I am smelling of chicken poo half the time!"
