Tony Discipline has declared he wants to marry Shona McGarty, calling her “the love of my life”, as he supported her at the opening night of her new West End production, From The Heart.
The former EastEnders stars have been growing closer over the past year, and Tony made the declaration on the red carpet while attending the show's opening in London.
Relationship confirmed after speculation
The couple's romance was confirmed after weeks of speculation, when Shona shared a TikTok of the pair taking on an accent challenge. She captioned the clip: ‘accent challenge with my Man…@tony (God it feels so good to say that)’.
The day before, Shona had posted a carousel of images on Instagram from a couples holiday, captioning the post: ‘The best trip away with Mi Amor @tonydiscipline’. One of the photos showed them getting matching tattoos, which appear to be of a popped toaster next to a pineapple and palm tree. Tony replied in the comments with ‘Te Amo’.
Tony's declaration on the red carpet
Asked on the red carpet whether he planned to propose, Tony told The Sun: “100% yeah, absolutely, that’s the love of my life. I’ve known her a long time. We’ve always had partners, so we never stepped over the line. But in the last year or so our chemistry has really come to light, she’s just the best woman in the world’.
‘Her energy, she’s so funny, she makes me laugh every day. I’m a very lucky man, I’m a very lucky man to have her and she’s got a beautiful voice hasn’t she? I don’t want anyone else in my life. That’s my woman, that’s my soulmate.’
Speaking about his excitement to watch the show, Tony added: ‘I’ve seen the amount of effort she’s put in, I’ve seen the amount of training she’s put in and I know what a talent she is. And listen that’s my lady. So, I’m very excited and proud to watch her.’
Social media support and EastEnders history
Tony also took to Instagram to share a picture of the couple on the red carpet and a shot of Shona onstage, captioning the post: ‘What an opening show for From the Heart. I am so proud of you My Beautiful Shon. You was simply incredible up there last night. The Love Of My Life’. Shona replied with ‘My Love…’.
Fans flooded the comments with supportive messages. @living_miracle_1 wrote: ‘You two are just simply meant to be. My fave couple. You look so good together & so nice see my lovely friend happy & smiling’. @bad_lashes1 added: ‘Beautiful Shona, inside and out. I’m so happy that you 2 are together.. love seeing you both so happy’, while @kirstyjcurtis said: ‘You two are the best! Love you both’, and @adz_ali_1 wrote: ‘Ahhhh you guys!!!! Love seeing you happy’.
Their on-screen characters, Whitney Dean and Tyler Moon, were in a relationship plagued with lies, deceit and cheating, which ultimately led to Tyler’s departure from EastEnders in 2014. Whitney remained on the show for a further 10 years before leaving in 2024, returning for a one-off appearance this year.
During their time on the soap, Tony was in a relationship with Jacqueline Jossa, who still plays Lauren Branning, while Shona had been in a relationship with Matt Lapinskas, who portrayed Tony’s on-screen brother, Anthony Moon.
