Suranne Jones' husband Laurence Akers was met with a stark warning from her co-star's partner on the first day they met — that he'd "rip" his "head off". Suranne has been married to Laurence since 2015, having embarked on a whirlwind six-month romance that culminated in the birth of their first child just one year later.
How the couple met
BAFTA TV award-winner Suranne took home the honour for playing Gemma in Doctor Foster and has starred in Strictly Confidential, Unforgiven, and Hostage. Her breakout role was as Karen McDonald, who was twice married to Steve McDonald on Coronation Street.
On the Cobbles, she starred alongside Sally Lindsay, who played Shelley Unwin, and it seems the pair struck up a bond. Suranne even attended Sally's wedding to drummer Steve White — a day that would prove significant in more ways than one.
It was there that she met Laurence, a friend of the groom, who found himself on the receiving end of what Sally describes as the "biggest dad talk". Despite this, Suranne and Laurence's relationship went on to become, as Sally put it, a real "love story".
The warning revealed
Sally explained on her podcast, A Night In With Sally Lindsay: "It was my wedding and Steve, my husband, Steve White, is friends with your husband, Laurence. And he came, and he had to be on the same table, and he was introduced by another mutual friend, weren't he?
"Tony Wood, who introduced me to Steve 10 years previously. He was our producer on Coronation Street. It was the most mad connection, want it? And then Steve gave Laurence the biggest dad talk.
"He was like, 'If you do anything to Sarah, I'm actually going to rip your head off'. Fortunately, you got married, and it's been a love story, so it's alright."
Family life
Suranne said she always remembers the anniversary of their meeting because it's also Sally's wedding anniversary. Sally says Suranne always texts her on the day, while "no one else remembers".
Her son, whose name Suranne hasn't shared publicly, was born in March 2016, two months after the Gentleman Jack actress revealed that she was pregnant at the National Television Awards.
She spoke previously to The Big Issue about the birth and how she'd had a C-section. Suranne said: "If I could go back to one time in my life, I would like to revisit the first week of having my son. It's all such a haze. I had to have a C-section, and it came out of the blue because he was breached.
"So I'd like to have that week with him, but without the haze and the shock. So I could remember it properly. I look a lot at photos of that person in that moment and I wish I could be back there, really in it, really present. That'd be lovely."
Catch Suranne on Vigil on BBC One tonight (Sunday, August 30), from 9pm to 10pm.
