Coronation Street’s Jane Danson has played Leanne Battersby since 1997 and her husband Robert Beck is also a familiar soap star
Coronation Street’s Jane Danson has played Leanne Battersby since 1997 and her husband Robert Beck is also a familiar soap star
Joe Crutchley Screen Time reporter
21:26, 09 Mar 2026Updated 21:27, 09 Mar 2026
Coronation Street’s Jane Danson is a beloved soap icon in her role as Leanne Battersby – and she happens to be married to a rather well-known actor.
Jane rose to prominence when she arrived on the ITV soap in 1997 – turning up as Leanne alongside the rest of the memorable Battersby family, including sister Toyah (Georgia Taylor).
Throughout the years, Leanne has been central to numerous major storylines; from unexpected affairs and sex work to devastating baby loss and drug addiction.
Particularly now, as this week, Leanne exposes predator Megan (Beth Nixon) in a deception when she overhears Megan taking a flirty call. As viewers will remember, Megan has been grooming teenager Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) and is expecting his baby.
However, beyond Corrie, actress Jane is in fact wed to fellow soap actor Robert Beck. Robert has featured in shows such as Brookside, Emmerdale and Waterloo Road, reports the Mirror.
During his Emmerdale period, he portrayed villain Damon ‘Harry’ Harris in 1999. And Robert even made an appearance in Jane’s own soap Coronation Street in 2008, taking on the role of criminal Jimmy Dockerson.
Most recently, he returned to Emmerdale from 2023 to 2024, playing Harris, also known as Harry. Robert additionally starred in the 2023 ITV crime drama The Bay as Len Reid.
Jane and Robert first crossed paths in 1999 at the British Soap Awards and subsequently married in 2005. The couple also share two sons, Harry – born in July 2006 and Sam – born in February 2009.
In a previous interview with OK! Magazine, Jane spoke candidly about her first encounter with Robert. She remembered: “I’m not the world’s most confident person but I’d had a crush on Rob since I was 15, so I thought, I have to speak to him, it’s fate.”
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The award-winning actress has also previously disclosed the key to her successful marriage with Robert, saying: “Me and my husband have been together for 22 years, and we’re really good friends as well as loving each other lots.”
She added: “Rob’s absolutely my best friend in the world. We’ve only had about two rows in 20 years. I’m not saying we don’t get on each other’s nerves sometimes, but we’re a strong team and we’ve always allowed each other to be individuals.”
Coronation Street airs Monday to Friday at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX
