Their love story hasn’t always been plain sailing

Joanna Page has cleared up confusion after previously admitting that she and her husband of 22 years almost divorced a few years back.

Since shooting to fame as Stacey Shipman on BBC’s Gavin and Stacey, Joanna has become a regular on TV screens. Today, (September 28), she’s on Sunday Brunch. But away from the TV shows, Joanna Page is loved-up with her famous hubby and fellow actor James Thornton.

But their love story hasn’t always been plain sailing though, as a few years ago, Joanna opened up about their relationship.

Joanna is married to fellow actor James (Credit: SplashNews.com)

Joanna Page and husband James nearly divorced

Joanna and James first struck up a romance back in 1999. They took the next step in their relationship and tied the knot four years later.

The couple are also proud parents to four children: daughter Eva born in 2013, and sons Kit and Noah born in 2015 and 2016. Joanna and James then welcomed their fourth child, a daughter called Boe, in December 2021.

James is probably best known for playing John Barton in Emmerdale from 2009 to 2012. He’s also appeared in Holby City and Stella.

However, in an interview from 2020, Joanna revealed that she and James struggled to make their relationship work in 2020 because of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Joanna and James struggled during lockdown (Credit: ITV)

Joanna’s divorce confession

“We spent the whole of the first lockdown arguing and threatening to divorce each other. Then we went through a month of literally not saying a single word to each other,” Joanna told The Sun.

She added: “We came out of that a bit numb and deadened and desperate for anything we could get because we just argued so much.”

Joanna then revealed that she and James struggled to find time for intimacy. She said: “‘Let’s get some sex in before we have to pick the kids up from school’ — that’s how desperate we’d got. I’m sure all parents found it really difficult during the lockdown. You’re with the children so much, and then at night-time, they all just wanted to sleep in bed with us.”

The TV star also joked about her sex life during an interview with The Guardian.

When asked if she has “sexy times” at the weekend, she joked: “Oh God, not with four children! If I did have a spare hour, I’d sit and watch the Australian version of The Traitors rather than muster up any energy to have some sexy time.

“My husband would have a different answer, but he’s not breastfeeding a two year old right now.”

‘You don’t get through 25 years without ups and downs’

However, earlier this week, speaking to the Mirror, she’s claimed that her comments were taken out of context. “I just said that Covid was really difficult for us as a family because me and James argued a lot, and it was like we were going to get divorced every day. I said it jokingly but this newspaper printed it as if I genuinely meant it. I didn’t. I utterly adore him. He’s wonderful.”

Joanna also shut down the rumours about her sex life.

She said: “We don’t do date nights as there’s too much going on and I can’t be [bleep]ed. And while, it’s wonderful and hectic and fun, James and I can go through huge chunks of not seeing or speaking to each other. So now they are all at school, we can sit down, have a little coffee and actually talk. James is going: ‘Can we connect in other ways? Let’s go upstairs and have a quick [bleep] on the bed!’ But I’m like: ‘No, let’s have a coffee first. A bit of cake and a chat and, once we’re emotionally connected, then you can have a bit of sex!’ Suddenly we’ve got a relationship again! It’s wonderful. That’s where we are at the moment.”

Joanna added: “We love being together all the time. But you don’t get through 25 years without ups and downs. Of course we bicker and have arguments and go to bed not speaking, but we always wake up in the morning and never carry the argument on.”