Emmerdale legend Chris Chittell is one of the most recognisable faces on TV thanks to playing Eric Pollard on the ITV soap for over three decades.
Chris, who made his Emmerdale debut back in 1986, is the longest-serving actor and the longest-serving character in the history of the soap but the dad-of-two, 75, was initially only scheduled to appear in 12 episodes. However, almost 40 years later, Chris and Eric are synonymous with the fictional Yorkshire Dales village.
Eric was initially introduced to Emmerdale fans as a villain, with actor Eric describing his character as "a bit of a rat", but Eric's demeanour has drastically toned down over the years, with viewers left in tears as Eric said goodbye to wife Val Lambert (Charlie Hardwick) in 2015.
Born in Aldershot, Hampshire in 1948, actor Chris originally intended to join the Royal Navy after leaving school but had a change of heart, instead becoming a model and eventually an actor. His first gig came about in 1964, when he performed with the National Theatre, at Chichester Festival Theatre, in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun.
Prior to signing up to play Eric on Emmerdale, Chris racked up multiple film and TV credits, including portraying Potter in the 1967 film To Sir, with Love, roles in The Raging Moon and Zulu Dawn and appearing in two seasons of the the 1970s science fiction TV drama The Tomorrow People.
Away from his career, Chris has walked down the aisle and tied the knot twice over the years. The legendary soap star first married in 1979 and went on to welcome two children, Rebecca and Ben Chittell into the world with first wife Caroline Hunt, but the former couple divorced in 2005.
Chris, was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to drama and charity, went on to find love again, on the set of Emmerdale no less. The actor and his co-star Lesley Dunlop, who is known for her role as Brenda Walker in the Yorkshire-based soap began dating shortly after she joined the show in 2008 and announced their engagement in 2015.
In an interview with the Daily Record in 2012, Chris opened up about their romance and revealed: "Everyone thinks it’s the younger members of the cast who have all the fun but we more mature ones do, too. It was weird. Somehow we’d never met before and we just kept bumping into each other at work.
"I can’t even remember if I asked her for a date or she asked me but she is wonderful and we’re very happy. For some people, working together would be a nightmare but we love it. We make a point of not talking about Emmerdale when we’re at home, though – that would be just too sad, wouldn’t it?"
Chris and Lesley, who saw their on-screen characters briefly date for a while, went on to become husband and wife on 18 June 2016. The two soap stars married in the coastal village of Coverack in Cornwall, at St Peter’s Church. Lesley shares two children with her former partner, Christopher Guard.
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