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VERA legend Brenda Blethyn has opened up on her life off-camera – and the unconventional living arrangements with her other-half.
The ITV actress, who has been married to art director Michael Mayhew since 2010, quit the long-running drama after 14 years to spend more time with her family.
Now double Oscar nominee and BAFTA and Golden Globe winner Brenda has revealed what life looks like at home after she left her iconic role as DCI Vera Stanhope.
The screen star, 79, who lives in Kent has told how while she and Michael live in the same building – they actually share separate apartments within it.
She told The Telegraph: “My husband lives upstairs.
“We moved into this very nice flat in Ramsgate.
“And I’d be saying, ‘Can I open a window, it’s very hot in here?’ And he’d say, ‘No, it’s freezing.’
“And after a while, I said, ‘Is that flat downstairs still vacant?’
‘So I moved downstairs. It works brilliantly.
‘We eat together. We go out together.
“We live together, but in different apartments.”
HUGE CHANGE
Vera wrapped on January 2 2025.
Brenda had played DCI Vera Stanhope ever since the series began in 2011.
Brenda previously teased how Vera would come to an end – in news that devastated fans – before revealing the real reason why.
She told The Sun: “As much as I loved all that, I’ve got a family at home and I realised I hadn’t had a summer for 14 years with my family.
“So I still did another series because I couldn’t drag myself away.
“But anyway it was time, that’s all.”
OPENING UP
Previously, the Kate and Koji star spoke openly about the start of her career as an actress and the breakdown of her first marriage.
The Kent-born actress was wed to Alan Blethyn from 1964 to 1973.
She recalled her former life chapter and told the Radio 4 Saturday Live podcast: “I was 27, something like that and I was married.
“But at the time, I was accepted on the [acting] course at Guilford and actually [I was] going in the September [and] my marriage broke up. “
She added: “My entire life changed, my prospects, my job, my bank balance, where I lived, my friends.
“Everything changed, and it was quite a brave thing to do, but I’m so glad I did it.”
