Vera actor Kenny Doughty dating huge TV star

VERA star Kenny Doughty has found love with his Extras co-star, Ashley Jensen.

Kenny, 46, who plays DS Aiden Healy opposite Brenda Blethyn in the ITV drama, was first spotted with the Emmy-nominated actress earlier this month.

They were pictured holding hands and giggling after dining out at the Japanese restaurant Robun in Bath earlier this month.

The couple, who met on the set of 2017 BBC One drama series Love, Lies and Records, are said to have grown close over the summer.

A source revealed: “Ashley and Kenny have been friends for some time, and he has been an immense support to her in the past few years.

“They make a lovely couple, and all their friends are absolutely delighted for them. Ashley is both a wonderful actress and person — and she deserves this second chance at happiness.”

Yorkshireman Kenny, 46, is best known for his role in ITV’s crime drama Vera, playing DS Aiden Healy, opposite Brenda Blethyn.

Scots-born Ashley, 51, who played Maggie Jacobs in the cult Ricky Gervais comedy Extras, was left heartbroken after the death of hubby Terence Beesley, 60.

They had been married for ten years and he is dad to their son Francis, now 11.

The former The Bill actor took his own life in 2017, being found by Ashley in his Mercedes at the family home in Camerton, Somerset.

She told the inquest the following year: “I was extremely shocked by what happened that night and I will never ever forget it.

“Terry and I had been together for 18 years but I had no idea he was capable of what he did.”

Ashley and Terence first met in the late nineties when they worked together in a London theatre production of Shakespeare’s King Lear.

They got married in the US in 2007, where Ashley was appearing in the US television comedy drama Ugly Betty, in which she played Christina McKinney.

Kenny was born in South Yorkshire and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Kenny has starred on TV shows like Heartbeat, Coronation Street, and Dinnerladies.

Vera is based on the novels written by Anne Cleves and sees DCI Vera Scunthorpe (Blethyn) and her team solve the most gruesome murders in Northumberland.

Due to filming delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Vera series 11 had to be split into two parts.This means only the first two episodes of the new season were able to be filmed in time for the scheduled premiere.

Since then, actress Blethyn has been spotted filming the rest of the series in places such as County Durham and Sunderland.

Thankfully, the wait is almost over as Vera picks up from where it left off.

The episode three description reads: “When security foreman Gary Mallon is fatally wounded during a robbery at a Blyth container port, the evidence points to an audacious heist that went awry. Vera begins to suspect an inside job.”