Lynne McGranger, a star of Home and Away, acknowledged that she was astonished to learn that Shan Withington was wed to his former on-screen wife.
Since 1993, the actress, 70, has played Irene Roberts, and in 2009, 64-year-old Shane joined the Australian serial opera’s ensemble as John Palmer.
John had a heart attack after the recent explosion and moved in with Irene while he recovered.
On Friday’s episode (August 18), Irene was stunned to see that the employee of the surf club had prepared her dinner while John had been driving her crazy at the café.
Off-screen, Lynne talked about a conversation that happened a few years after Shane started working on the soap opera and revealed his marriage to Anne Tenney.
She told 7Life, “We were both in the green room about two years after Shane joined the show, and I asked him, ‘You married?'”
He says, “Yeah, I have a partner. At the time, we had been dating for 30 years. I asked, ‘Oh, what’s her name,’ and he replied, “Anne.”
Shane and Anne first became acquainted while portraying the on-screen couple Brendan and Molly Jones in the popular Australian soap serial A Country Practise from the 1980s.
When Lynne learned that their romance had continued off-screen, she admitted that she “nearly died,” saying: “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, are you two together in real life?'”
“All of a sudden, I transformed into a hopeless soap opera romantic. I couldn’t believe it and was so happy that Brendan and Molly were truly dating in real life. The experience was the most thrilling ever.
Lynne gushed about how she and Shane “always got along and enjoyed working together” at the workplace.
She gushed, “He’s such a sweetie and so fun to work with.
“What I love about Shane is that he actually reminds me of myself,” the author said. “He’s not afraid to really go for it, go over the top, and then let the director pull it back.”
