Sarah Lancashire is thriving right now. Up for Best Leading Actress at the prestigious BAFTA Awards this weekend, the actress has been nominated for her performance as Sergeant Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley. Last year, we saw the actress win big at the National Television Awards in September, where she thanked her husband and children in a heartfelt acceptance speech.
An extremely private person, Sarah rarely speaks about her family, but she has opened up about them on occasion. Here's what we know about her life with Peter Salmon and their three children...
Sarah's home life in London
Away from the cameras, Sarah prefers to keep her personal life out of the spotlight. The 59-year-old resides in a £3 million, five-bedroom home in London with her husband Peter Salmon, a TV producer and executive.
Sarah, who also has two sons from her first marriage, Tom and Matthew, is happiest when at home with her family. "The older that I get, the harder it is to be away from home," she previously said. "I love being at home. I'm very much a mum when I go home – the mums among us know it's a full-time job."
Meeting husband Peter Salmon
Sarah first met Peter whilst starring as Raquel Watts on Coronation Street, a role she played between 1991 and 1996, despite initially being scheduled to appear in just two episodes.
Following her separation from ex-husband Gary Hargreaves in 1995, Sarah moved on with TV executive Peter, who worked for Corrie producers Granada Studios at the time.
The couple, who began dating in 2000, were introduced by a producer on the soap, Carolyn Reynolds, at a dinner. "I feel like I played a bit of a cupid," Carolyn told BBC Radio 4 in 2022.
A romantic engagement and intimate wedding
Peter popped the question during a romantic trip to New York over Easter in 2001, and the couple wed just months later in an intimate wedding ceremony held at the historic country home and hotel, Langar Hall, in Nottinghamshire.
During an interview with The Telegraph following her engagement, Sarah revealed why marriage was "necessary" for her. "Marriage is not for everyone, but spiritually it is very necessary for me because I have a desire, a need to feel owned," she said, before clarifying: "Not physically or mentally owned. I want to be owned spiritually. I want to belong to somebody. Marriage is a pact, a conspiracy of ownership. And I want that."
A private life away from the cameras
Sarah is notoriously private. She opened up about her desire to keep her personal life out of the spotlight following her engagement to Peter.
"We are not a public couple and we don't make our careers out of being a public couple," she told The Telegraph. "I know that people are interested but I don't even like talking about my relationship with Peter. And I guard it because it is very precious. It is not a piece of drama, it is real life. My normal life. And I value my normality."
Sarah's children and blended family
Sarah welcomed two sons during her first marriage to music lecturer, Gary Hargreaves. Their first son, Thomas, was born in 1987, and was soon followed by their second son Matthew in 1988.
In a previous interview with The Telegraph, Sarah explained that she got married after falling pregnant with her first child. "I'm a very traditional girl and was horrified at the thought of having a child out of wedlock," she admitted. "I didn't want a child of mine to be different or have fingers pointed at them. The marriage lasted for 10 years which was 10 years longer than it should have done."
Two years after she married her current husband, Peter, Sarah welcomed her third son, Joseph, in 2003.
Sarah is also a stepmum to Peter's three sons from his previous marriage to Penny Watt. Since Sarah tends to keep her personal life private, not much is known about her children.
