Outnumbered couple Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner secretly married in real life three years ago
They began dating after filming ended in 2017.
We know them best as the mum and dad of the mischievous Outnumbered kids, but Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner are a couple in real life too.
Not only that, but it’s now been revealed that they actually married three years ago without anyone knowing.
Comedian Hugh, 63, and actress Claire, 60, play Pete and Sue Brockman in the BBC sitcom, respectively.
They got together when filming ended of the 2017 series, which was confirmed the following June.
And after eight years together, MailOnline has confirmed Hugh and Claire tied the knot in the summer of 2022 in the parish of Westminster, not once speaking publicly about their nuptials.
Hugh’s wedding ring was seemingly first noticed last month when he appeared on ITV daytime show Lorraine.
The couple met while filming Outnumbered and got together shortly after the 2017 series ended (Picture: Hat Trick)Meanwhile, Claire sported both her engagement and wedding ring while promoting Outnumbered’s Christmas special, in which Daniel Roche, Tyger Drew-Honey, and Ramona Marquez also reprised their roles.
This is neither Hugh nor Claire’s first marriage. The Mock the Week panellist’s first wife was Miranda Carroll, whom he married in 1987 and split from in 1993.
Hugh went on to marry Kate Abbot-Anderson in 1996 and they divorced in 2015.
Claire was previously married to director Charles Palmer, with whom she shares two sons. Their relationship ended in 2016.
A source said: ‘This is a real TV love story.
Hugh was seen sporting a wedding ring on Lorraine last month (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)‘They delighted fans when they fell in love outside of the show, having managed to keep it quiet.
‘They are a low-key couple who wanted to keep this special for them.’
It’s said that ‘only their family and close friends have known’ that they became husband and wife.
Away from the cameras, Hugh and Claire reside in a £1.5million London townhouse.
Speaking shortly after their romance went public, Hugh recalled in 2018: ‘That happened, I suppose, about a year and a half ago.
The Brockmans were last seen on screens on Boxing Day for Outnumbered’s latest Christmas special (Picture: BBC/Hat Trick Productions/Adam Lawrence)‘We did an Outnumbered Christmas special about three years ago and then met up again about a year and a half ago.’
The chain of events left Hugh feeling ‘very, very happy’, and he called the relationship ‘lovely’.
’Nobody really noticed when Hugh Dennis and I first got into a relationship,’ Claire then told The Times in 2019, explaining that they were able to navigate their changing relationship away from prying eyes.
‘The news didn’t come out until a year later, which was great. People said to us that someone will notice soon, but I kept telling them, “We’re both over 50. Why would anyone be interested in that?”
‘We’ve got families we wanted to protect, but everybody’s pretty cool and happy with it.’
The couple reside in a London home away from the spotlight (Picture: Hat Trick)The Brockmans were last seen on screen as a family of five on Boxing Day when Outnumbered’s Christmas episode pulled 3.5million viewers, peaking at four million.
Originally, the beloved family comedy ran for five series between 2007 and 2014 with another Christmas episode airing in 2016.
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