Soap star love scandals – from married Corrie actor's 5 month affair with co-star to shocking Emmerdale love triangles

THEIR love lives are full of turmoil on-screen – but for some soap stars, reality can be just as dramatic.

Spending hours on set with co-workers can see sparks fly, and sometimes the temptation proves too much.

Here we take a look at soapland's off-screen romps and toxic splits that could have been lifted straight out of a script.

Cheating scandal

Claire King's Emmerdale character Kim Tate has had her share of agony, but the actress herself is no stranger to drama.

In 1994 she married co-star Peter Amory, who played her on-screen step-son Chris.

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But their 10-year marriage was derailed when he was accused of having an affair with Emmerdale co-star Samantha Giles, while Claire was working on Bad Girls in London.

While he and Samantha deny anything happening during the marriage, Claire was convinced it did.

"I had a feeling that something was going on," she told the Mirror back in 2005.

"I was working in London and we were spending less and less time together. I was travelling back to Yorkshire every weekend.

"I remember Pete saying that I only came back to see my dogs and horses… and I thought: 'Well, yeah, and to catch you at it!'"

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Claire's suspicions were seemingly confirmed when Samantha's then-partner penned a letter claiming their spouses were indeed cheating.

Claire also claimed Pete admitted he had been unfaithful when she grilled him and put an end to the affair, but it later started up again.

The pair then split for good and divorced in 2004.

Claire has since said she has forgiven Samantha after she apologised to her at a friend's funeral.

"I’ve got nothing against her now," Claire told the Mirror. "It’s all water under the bridge, and for me to be able to say I don’t care any more is good for me too."

Five month affair

Before Kym was happily settled down with Army Major husband Scott Ratcliff, she allegedly had a fling with a Corrie co-star while married to Jamie Lomas.

Oliver Mellor, who played Dr Matt Carter on the soap from 2010, claimed they embarked on a five-month affair after sharing scenes together in 2013 and fell deeply in love.

Kym's infidelity came after she allegedly forgave Jamie for his cheating on her ahead of their wedding.

Oliver previously told The Sunday Mirror: "It wasn’t something we intended to happen, but we couldn’t stop our feelings."

At the time Oliver – now married to Rhian Sugden – was engaged to PR executive Charlotte Bury, but he claimed his feelings for Kym, 44, were "impossible to ignore".

He added that Kym's guilt at the pain the affair would cause her family was what caused them to end it.

Shocking love triangle

Things were frosty in the Dales in 2016 when it was claimed Danny Miller was having an affair with his co-star Isabel Hodgins – who was dating fellow Emmerdale actor Michael Parr.

At the time, Danny was dating Hollyoaks actress Kirsty-Leigh Porter, who found incriminating texts on his phone.

It's said to have caused fireworks, with angry cast members splitting into two camps.

The Sun reported: "The tension between them caused major problems on set, because Michael made it crystal clear he didn’t want to be around Danny."

Kirsty was said to be devastated at the betrayal after forgiving Danny's alleged infidelity with a prostitute when drunk.

And Michael was believed to be furious with pal Danny for going behind his back, but he stayed with Isabel until they finally split in 2019.

Danny has now settled down with Steph Jones, with whom he shares a son, while Kirsty-Leigh has a child with her fiancee Paul Barber.

Toxic split

It's never wise to mix business and pleasure, but Tina O'Brien appears to have missed that memo.

Aged 17, she dated Bruno Langley, who played her on-screen boyfriend Todd Grimshaw, for a year. When their romance went south, five months later she moved on to Bruno's on-screen brother, Ryan Thomas.

Thankfully her ex gave them her blessing, and initially Tina and Ryan seemed to be one of the most stable soap couples – though Tina said their relationship was tempestuous at times due to her bad temper.

The pair dated for six years and welcomed daughter Scarlett in 2008.

But a month before Scarlett's first birthday, Ryan allegedly told Tina he didn't love her anymore, leaving her "devastated".

Both are now happy with new partners. Tina has welcomed a baby boy with hubby Adam Crofts, while Ryan shares two children with former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh.

Both exes occasionally make digs at each other on social media but have remained relatively harmonious – until Tina was accused of damaging her ex's car with a baseball bat during a late-night bust-up in March.

Warring pals

Following her divorce, Kym found herself back under fire for dating Dan Hooper shortly after he split from Hollyoaks actress Stephanie Waring in 2014.

Steph blasted the Corrie star, claiming Kym's decision to date Dan was heartless because of their friendship.

She told The Sun on Sunday: "I had no idea that she would ever do anything like this.

"He’s not just some guy that I went out with for a year. This is a man I spent half a decade with and have a child with."

Kym and Dan didn't last long, and Stephanie couldn't resist tweeting her glee when they split.

Despite the bad blood, in 2016 the Hollyoaks actress said she wanted to bury the hatchet and "draw a line under everything that has been said in the past two years".

"This is about closure, forgiveness and me moving forward into next year," she told the Mirror.

"My biggest regret is talking about what happened with Kym in the first place. Kym’s a mum and I’m a mum.

"I’m so sorry for putting her and her family through that. I shouldn’t have lashed out."

Kym and Stephanie now seem to be on good terms again.

Split after 'months of rows'

Joe Swash had become a fixture in EastEnders as Mickey Miller by the time Kara Tointon arrived to play his on-screen sister Dawn Swann in 2005.

At first there was little more than friendship between the stars, and Kara dated Martin Fowler actor James Alexandrou for a year.

But things turned romantic between her and Joe after they split, with the pair getting together just before Joe flew out to film I'm A Celeb in 2008.

Joe was thrilled at the time, claiming he was punching above his weight, and Kara was equally smitten, saying she hoped to settle down and start a family with him.

But in 2010, she allegedly called time on their romance with no warning and fled to Marbella with pals to sort her head out.

While neither gave a reason for the shock split, it was reported they'd been arguing for months after appearing in panto together over Christmas.

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A friend of the couple said: "Both she and Joe are really upset about it – but their rows were getting too frequent and they knew they couldn't make it work anymore."

It seems it was for the best, as Joe is happily settled down with fiancee Stacey Solomon while Kara is expected her second child with boyfriend Marius Jensen.

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