Sam and I have this amazing relationship.I'm best mates with her ex...

And tip-off led Oliver to his new role

- SANJEETA BAINS

Being best mates with your partner's ex-husband must surely be the ultimate in a modern happy family set-up. And it is a situation for which soap actor Oliver Farnworth is very grateful.

The former Corrie star, 41, now lives in Spain with Samantha Womack but is heading to the Dales on the advice of her ex, Mark Womack.

Considering Sam, who played Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders, and Mark, who starred as Emmerdale's dodgy detective Mark Malone, have two adult children and only split in 2018, this one big happy family is at odds with the drama such a scenario would spark on a soap.

But for Oliver, Sam, 51, and 63-yearold Mark it works.

Oliver, who joins Emmerdale on Monday as the brooding and enigmatic John Sugden, also gets on well with the pair's children, Lily, 19, and Benjamin, 23.

"Mark is a good friend," explains Oliver, who began dating Sam in 2019, the year after her split with Mark. "I actually just spoke to him yesterday. And when I got offered [the part in Emmerdale), Mark told me it was a great job. He was full of praise for the place."

Mark starred on the show in 2020 and brought havoc to the Dales. Oliver meanwhile makes his debut next week as the son of the late Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby), the result of a fling in the 80s with John's mum Barbara.

"I remember [Mark] saying when he was filming, that it's such a gorgeous place to work - it's really, really brilliant," says Oliver. "So when this came along, I was excited. And it is great. He said to me, 'I told you so' and I said, 'You did."

Oliver previously played Andy Carver in Coronation Street from 2014 to 2017 and was memorably held captive and then eventually murdered by Weatherfield serial killer Pat Phelan.

But had his character not suffered an untimely end, he may not have met Sam.