Emmerdale Paddy actor’s real-life wife is soap co-star – and fans’ minds are blown

Emmerdale’s Dominic Brunt is a soap legend – but fans are only just realising his wife is a famous soap star

Emmerdale fans have been left floored after learning Paddy Kirk star Dominic Brunt is married to a soap co-star.

Dominic shot to fame playing the loveable vet on the ITV soap – making his debut in 1997. And it didn’t take him long to become one of the show’s most iconic and adored characters.

As Paddy, Dominic has been involved in several big storylines too over the years. From his shock affairs to the heartbreaking loss of his child, Paddy’s time in the Dales has not been short of drama.

Away from the soap though, fans have been left stunned recently to learn that he is Dominic is married to Joanne Mitchell. Joanne Mitchell is also well known to soap lovers as she has made a number of appearances on Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

**Dominic has played Paddy for over 25 years** (Image: ITV)

Dominic and Joanne met while attending drama school in Bristol before they went on to marry in 2003. They are parents to sons, Mickey-Joe and Danny Lee.

Joanne has starred in several award-winning shows and has even appeared in Emmerdale multiple times. She has played four roles on the show to date, starting with Susan Davies, followed by a midwife named Yeo.

Up next were the more challenging roles such as DS Karen Barnborough and most recently Sandra Flaherty, the mother and stepmother of Liv Flaherty (Izzy Steel ) and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller).

In 2022, Joanne spoke about working with Dominic on Emmerdale, telling Inside Soap: “I haven’t seen Dominic at the studios yet since I’ve been back this time.

“It’s fun to be on the same show but I’ve not actually worked with him yet. We haven’t had any scenes together as our characters live separate lives in the village.”

**She has appeared in Emmerdale as well as other soaps** (Image: Andrew Boyce)

Recently, a photo of Dominic and Joanne made its rounds on an Emmerdale Facebook fan page. Captioned: “Dominic Brunt and his wife Joanne Mitchell,” the snap left plenty of people shocked over their real-life romance.

“Wow I didn’t know he is married to Liv’s mum in real life,” said one person as someone else added: “That’s who that is!”

A third fan chimed in: “Fine actor. But I never knew his wife was Liv’s Mum in Emmerdale!”Echoing their thoughts, another person wrote: “So shocked Sandra is his off-screen wife.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 and ITVX at 7.30pm