Doctor Who actress Mandip Gill took to Instagram to reveal her surprise engagement while on holiday with her long-term boyfriend this week. The former Hollyoaks star, who rose to fame as Phoebe McQueen when she first appeared on ITV screens in 2012, posted a photo of herself with a jelly sweet ring as she confirmed the happy news with fans.
Engagement Announcement
Mandip, 38, who has also featured in shows such as Cuckoo, Doctors, The Good Karma Hospital and Casualty, had been enjoying time abroad when her boyfriend popped the question. Sharing a photo of herself wearing a Haribo ring and covering her fiancé's face, she wrote on Instagram: 'Well ain’t that sweet' alongside the hashtag 'engagement'.
Mandip has kept the identity of her soon-to-be other half private, with his face not shown in any of her social media snaps. Nonetheless, friends and fans alike flooded the comments section to congratulate Mandip. Bancroft's Sarah Parish wrote: 'CONGRATULATIONS'. Laura Whitmore chimed in: 'Congrats!' as fellow Hollyoaks star Nadine Mulkerrin wrote: 'She deserves the world. Right this hen do, where we going?' She joined Channel 4 star Anna Passey, who wrote: 'Oh, it's lovely,' while Jen Metcalfe, best known for her role as Mercedes McQueen, added: 'Yes, yes, yes!'
Career Highlights
Mandip is best known for appearing as Yaz on the BBC's Doctor Who as a companion to the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker. Before that, she played Phoebe McQueen on Hollyoaks from 2012 until 2015, the adopted daughter of barmaid Jacqui McQueen, played by Claire Cooper. During her time on the show, Mandip was at the centre of some of the Channel 4 series's major storylines, including an on-off romance with Charlie Wernham's Robbie Roscoe and a murder charge. She also previously appeared in cameo roles in Casualty and Doctors.
Reflecting on her time in soapland, Mandip previously told the Two Shot Podcast: 'I made amazing friends, I lived in Liverpool in my own flat. It was a really good job, having a laugh, because it was like being at university but we were getting paid for it, just having a really good time and they offered me a new contract and I was like, "I have to be brave now". You’re working five or six days a week, an absolute machine, you go in there for 10 or 11 hours and it’s just constant. Even if it’s not your storyline you’re supporting someone else’s storyline and I was fortunate to be in it all the time.'
Back in 2018, Mandip revealed she 'never thought she'd get a job on the hit sci-fi show' Doctor Who alongside Jodie Whittaker. She told This Morning at the time: 'I did Casualty the same year I got Doctor Who, and I was walking down a corridor and the girl politely said "We don't go through that entrance, that's Doctor Who." In my head I was like, yeah, I would never go through that door, I'm never going to do that job.'
