Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner of popular BBC comedy Outnumbered are now a couple in real life, it has been revealed. The pair, who have both split from their previous partners, are said to have got together in March last year. The Sun reports that the couple found each other after the ending of both their relationships, completely coincidentally. Hugh and Claire played stressed-out parents Pete and Sue Brockman in the beloved show for seven years.
Hugh and Claire with their on-screen family
Claire, 53, split from her TV director husband Charles Palmer over two years ago, while Hugh, 56, separated from second wife Kate Abbot-Anderson in 2015 after 19 years of marriage. The pair both have two children from their previous marriages.
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The article goes on to reveal that while both actors were going through marriage breakdowns at a similar time, it was a significant amount of time after their separations that they got together. In fact, between the end of the last series of Outnumbered in 2014 and the Christmas special in 2016, they didn’t actually see each other for two years, though had always been very friendly.
The couple have reportedly been dating for over a year
Hugh and Claire have been seen out in public on numerous occasions since then, but it was assumed that they were just friends.
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Comedian Hugh is a regular on Mock The Week, and also appears in sitcom Not Going Out. In Outnumbered, he, Claire and their on-screen children Ramona Marquez, Tyger Drew-Honey and Daniel Roche captured the nation's hearts with their funny family dilemmas. The three child actors, now grown-up, shocked the British public when they reunited for a photograph in 2016, since they are now virtually unrecognisable from their early days in the BBC series.