Hollyoaks star Nikki Sanderson is enjoying her romance with boyfriend Anthony Quinlan and feeling "very lucky" to be with the former soap star.
The Channel 4 star, 38, and Anthony, 38, recently publicly confirmed their relationship - after months of speculation - and while both have pledged to keep things relatively private, Nikki still shared a couple of sweet sentiments about the former Emmerdale actor at the Pride of Manchester Awards on Tuesday night.
Speaking exclusively with the Mirror on the red carpet outside Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester, Nikki gushed about her beloved hometown and how proud she was to be at the prestigious awards show to see "wonderful people acknowledged" throughout the evening.
After discussing the inspirational evening ahead, we couldn't resist asking the stunning soap star about her romance with former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale actor Anthony.
"You know what, we are very happy and like you said, we are quite private so I won't talk too much about it, but we are very happy," Nikki told us with a big smile across her face on Tuesday night.
The former Coronation Street star added: "He's such a wonderful guy and I'm very lucky."
Anthony and Nikki become romantically involved last year, after the Gilly Roach actor messaged the current Hollyoaks star on social media.
"I slid into the DMs and that was it. I was lucky enough to get a date and the rest is history," Anthony admitted to The Sun last month.
Speaking about Nikki - who enjoyed a six year stint in Coronation Street as a teenager - the actor gushed: "All I can say is I'm really, really happy and she's a very special girl. She's lovely."
Anthony went on to state he likes to keep his romance out of the spotlight, but is "happy that it is what it is".
The Maxine Minniver actress also publicly confirmed their romance shortly afterwards - publicly wishing her new beau a happy birthday on Instagram with a cute couple's picture.
"The happiest of happy birthdays to the man who makes me smile the most [love heart emoji.] I hope your day is as amazing as you are," Nikki captioned the adorable snap to her 449,000 followers last month.
Anthony was quick to reply, telling his partner: "Thank you baby."
The Salford-born actor is best known for playing Gilly Roach in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks from 2005 until his departure in 2011, and his role as Pete Barton on ITV's Emmerdale as Pete Barton until 2020.
The MEN Pride of Manchester Awards, in partnership with TSB, will premiere on YouTube at 7pm on Tuesday 17 th May – youtube.com/prideofbritainawards
