AN EASTENDERS legend has revealed that she found love again as she went public with her relationship.
Jill Halfpenny is best known for her work in television drama starring in huge shows such as Waterloo Road and EastEnders.
Behind the scenes Jill, 48, has had a somewhat turbulent love life when she coupled up with Matt Janes after she divorced fellow actor Craig Conway.
However Matt died from a sudden heart attack in 2017 at the age of 43-years-old, which left her absolutely devastated.
However the Babylon actress now admitted that she’s found love again and she praised her new partner as her ‘cheerleader’.
Although, she did not name her partner fully, she did refer to him by his first name.
In an interview with Prima Magazine she said: “It sounds so cheesy, but I think Ian and I met at the perfect time.
“After Matt died, I didn’t know if I’d ever meet anyone again, but Ian is my cheerleader – I know I’ve met somebody who I love and who loves me.”
The second Strictly Come Dancing winner previously opened up about her grief after his passing.
During a chat with The Two Shot Podcast, she spoke about the grief of loosing her father and her beloved partner.
Getting emotional in the deep chat, she remarked: “Something happened a couple of years ago – I experienced something I’ve never ever spoken about.
“In January 2017 my partner, in very similar circumstances to my dad, went to the gym, had a heart attack and died.”
She added: “What happened was that it brought all of my grief from my dad as well; it was like dealing with a double loss – a loss I’d never dealt with.”
Jill recently starred in the four-part Channel 5 series, The Cuckoo in which she played the role of Sian.
Her character embodied a beautiful, flirty, and mysterious woman who inserted herself into the lives of married couple Nick and Jessica and their adopted daughter Alice.
Jill also recently appeared in the limited Channel 5 popular drama series The Holiday.
She is also well known for her role of Izzy Redpath in the first two series of the hit BBC school drama Waterloo Road from until.
Before this, she was well-respected in the industry for her roles in multiple soaps.
She played the role of Rebecca Hopkins in Coronation Street from 1999 until 2000, and then Kate Mitchell in EastEnders from 2002 until 2005.
