Call The Midwife's Stephen McGann says he fell "madly in love" with the creator of the hit BBC show the first moment he met her.
The actor, 59, who plays Doctor Patrick Turner in the programme, is married to the show's creator and producer, Heidi Thomas, also 59.
However, despite their links to the much-loved series - the happy couple actually met 30 years ago.
Sparks flew between the pair during a script reading in Liverpool in the mid 1980s and Stephen admits that for him, it was 'love at first sight'.
Speaking about their first meeting, the actor said he fell "madly in love" with the talented producer minutes after first meeting her.
The star explained that the pair lost touch after the meeting, but thankfully bumped into each other later in a hotel in Liverpool.
"I thought the writer [of the play] was probably about 48 and prematurely grey, but I walked into the audition and there was this young girl talking five hundred to the dozen," Stephen told The Sunday Times.
"We started chatting about the character and by the time I left the room I was madly in love."
Stephen admitted he thought love at first sight was an "idiotic" theory - until it happened to him.
The couple married in 1998 and share a son, Dominic.
Heidi previously told Good Housekeeping: "There are definite similarities [between McGann and Dr Turner] - for example, he’s very gifted at origami and I’ve written his talent for origami into previous episodes.
"So sometimes it’s a little bit hard to tell where Stephen McGann my husband and Dr Turner my character begin!"
She also joked: "But there are other things where they’re not remotely like one another, for example, Steve can’t do a forceps delivery."
Stephen often pays tribute to Heidi on social media, praising her for the often heartbreaking narrative of the much-loved show.
After one particularly emotional episode last year, which highlighted the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community at the time, Stephen gushed: "I loved that episode.
"It was written by Heidi, with all of her heart and soul. I love my other half for her craft, goodness and courage to the ends of the earth xxxx."
Call The Midwife is known for it's co-star romances, including actress Helen George and Jack Ashton, who shacked up after meeting on set.
Helen, who plays Trixie Franklin, met Jack, best known for playing Rev. Tom Hereward while filming the 2016 Christmas special of the BBC period drama.
The couple are now proud parents to daughters, Wren Ivy, four and Lark, who was born in November.
After revealing the tot's name on Instagram, Helen joked: "Our second little bird. This is Lark. We should probably stop there so we don't end up with a Goose."
After season 11 of Call The Midwife recently wrapped, fans will be pleased to know the series has been re-commissioned by the BBC for season 12 (2023) and season 13 (2024).
