ITV Protection actress Siobhan Finneran has revealed the one habit of hers that she finds “embarrassing”.
Viewers at home may recognise Siobhan, 58, for her time in Happy Valley where she starred alongside the likes of Sarah Lancashire and James Norton. In her latest role, she has returned to our screens in the new ITV thriller Protection where she takes on the part of DI Liz Nyles.
Liz is a police officer in the witness protection department who shields those who have given evidence against criminals and are accommodated in safe houses. However, things take a dramatic turn when there is a murder at one of the safe houses, leading her to believe that someone on the inside could be leaking information.
“She’s a woman in her fifties with a 16-year-old daughter, and she’s just become a full-time carer to her dad,” Siobhan said as she discussed her character. “Like hundreds of thousands of women, Liz is trying to keep a balance between personal and professional, so hopefully her character will resonate with loads of people – until that all gets blown up of course!”
While TV fans may be familiar with Siobhan on their screens, they may know less about her life away from the cameras. The Benidorm star gave fans a glimpse inside her personal life in a recent interview, revealing how she’d recently given up smoking.
As part of this, Siobhan explained that she’d been using vapes to help stay away from cigarettes – though joked that “it’s revolting” as she discussed the habit. “I keep buying the worst ones in the vain hope that I’ll stop. This is called Strawberry Ice,” she told The Guardian. “Absolutely ridiculous. It’s embarrassing asking for them: ‘Two packets of Watermelon Surprise for me.’ Awful!”
Siobhan, who has also appeared in shows including Downton Abbey and Alma’s Not Normal, was previously in a relationship with Emmerdale‘s Mark Jordon. The two tied the knot in the later 90s and the pair welcomed two children into the world. However, in 2014 they called time on their relationship.
Siobhan has recently been linked to Death In Paradise actor Don Gilet. The pair have not publicly addressed reports of their romance, though they were seen holding hands at last year’s TV Choice Awards. Back in January, Siobhan called Don her “fella” in an interview.
Ahead of her Protection debut, Siobhan spoke about the filming process and revealed that its long and emotional scenes made the job tough as she opened up on the long days on set. “I’ve never done a job this intense. I was in every day and pretty much every scene, so it was exhausting,” she said. “Your day starts at five and doesn’t finish till 10. But I loved it.”
And even before filming Siobhan got stuck into the role and did plenty of research on witness protection to ensure she could do her character justice. “Before the series, I knew the basics: people get moved to safe houses and then they’re looked after. I didn’t realise it became such a relationship between those people,” she explained. “Looking back, I suppose this was naive because the witnesses have to feel comfortable enough to tell the officer everything.”
You can watch Protection on ITV at 9pm tonight, Sunday 16 March
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