Kerry Godliman, 52, is appearing as the special guest on this weekend's Saturday Kitchen. Host Matt Tebbutt is joined by chefs Sam Evans, Shauna Guinn and Justin Tsang, with Olly Smith picking the drinks. Known for After Life, Derek and Bad Move, Kerry will feature on the show alongside the cooking action.
Career highlights
Kerry's best-known roles include Hannah in Derek, Nicky Rawlings in Bad Move and Lisa Johnson in After Life. Her other credits span Sonya Reeves in Trigger Point, Belinda Dawes in Our Girl and the recent film We Live in Time.
Marriage to actor Ben Abell
Kerry has been married to fellow actor Ben Abell since 2008. The pair met on a blind date when Kerry was 27 and Ben was 29. They later appeared together in Whitstable Pearl, with Kerry playing Pearl Nolan from 2021 to 2024 and Ben featuring in one 2022 episode as Ian Castle.
Ben's other acting credits include Murder Before Evensong, The Sandman, Sister Boniface Mysteries, Diana and I, Sherlock, Victoria, Luther and Dunkirk.
Talking to The i Paper, Kerry once said: "I met my husband on a blind date. I’d been single for ages, became mildly aggressive with my friendship group and said: 'Come on, one of you must know someone that I could go out with.'"
"He was directing and acting in a fringe play at the White Bear Theater in Kennington in South London and said: 'Someone has dropped out. Do you want to take part?'"
"I played his psychiatric nurse. I was 27 and he was 29. When he turned 30, I said: 'What’s it like having a girlfriend in her 20s?' I’ve done that joke on the cusp of every decade since."
Family life
Kerry lives in South London with Ben and their two children, Frank, 15, and Elsie, 18. Elsie is following her parents into acting and is heading to drama school.
Kerry previously told The i Paper: "I’m worried but also excited about empty nest syndrome. It’s double-edged. Frank is 15. Elsie is 18 and is off to drama school, about to endeavor to embark on a similar career path."There’s something thrilling about rearing your kids and thinking: 'They’re done. They’re cooked.' But when my phone sends me montages of them being little by the sea, I get sentimental and poleaxed with nostalgia."
Saturday Kitchen airs every Saturday at 10am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
