Julia Goulding is best known to fans and viewers for playing Shona Platt in Coronation Street. She made her debut on the cobbles in 2016 when she bumped into David Platt during a night out, unaware that he was the widower of Kylie Platt, the woman who her son, Clayton, killed.
Despite initially thinking she was a thief, the rest, they say, is history and David and Shona have become one of the soap's favourite couples. But it hasn't been plain sailing - from David being raped by Josh Tucker to Shona falling into a coma after being shot by Derek Milligan and awakening with severe memory loss.
But luckily for Julia, her off-screen life is a lot less dramatic than that of her character. The 37-year-old trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has starred in theatre productions including The Crucible, The Canterbury Tales, Othello, Merchant of Venice and The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith.
But it was Corrie which ended up being her first TV role, landing the role in 2016. She took a brief break for maternity leave in 2019 but was soon back on the cobbles with the Platts.
And luckily it was her dream job as she's a lifelong fan of the soap. "Every now and again, you’re walking around and it’ll hit you – ‘Oh my God, I’m on Coronation Street!’” Julia previousl told OK! "It can be something as simple as standing in the queue at the canteen. Even if I’m there in 60 years' time, I think I’ll still get that buzz," she added.
Like her character, Julia is married to her husband Ben Silver. The pair tied the knot at Manchester's Albert Hall after three years of dating - which included a secret ten-month engagement. Her co-stars attended the big day, with Jack P Shepherd (David), Tina O'Brien (Sarah Barlow) and former Corrie star Lucy Fallon (Bethany Platt) there to watch the pair wed.
Speaking about their big day afterwards, Julia told OK! about the choice of venues: "I love being on stage and I always wanted to get married on one!" While Ben told the magazine about seeing the bride for the first time, saying: "As soon as I saw Julia, I just knew it was the best day of my life."
Julia also revealed why her dad didn't walk her down the aisle, as she said she decided she'd rather walk with her husband-to-be. "It was important for us to walk down the aisle together and my parents aren’t traditional," Julia said. "My dad didn’t mind not giving me away as he believes I’m my own person. I can totally understand why people do it, but the way we did it felt right for Ben and I."
And one of Julia's famous pals had a part to play in the big day. During her early years, Julia made a couple of friends who have also gone on to big things. She has previously revealed that Taron Egerton, who played Elton John in the biopic Rocketman was in the year below her in school, and she is close friends with Sophie Rundle, who played Ada in Peaky Blinders and Ann Walker in Gentleman Jack, who attended their wedding.
Hollywood star Taron also had a role in Julia and Ben's love life. Julia and Ben met when Ben's younger brother Josh was at RADA alongside Taron, who ended up being master of ceremonies at their wedding. And during an appearance on Lorraine in 2019, Julia said she was "so proud" of Taron and said that she "cried all the way through" the hit film.
Back to Julia's life with her rarely seen husband and the couple welcomed their first child in 2019 - and he has a rather unique name. They welcomed son Franklin Wolf Silver at the end of November after Julia went into labour on her due date. She then announced his safe arrival in December.
Julia shared an image of herself and Ben on Instagram on Sunday to announce the happy news. "Thank you to the lovely couple in the park who took this picture for us," she penned at the time. "Taken as I was in early labour on my due date. The next day Ben and I welcomed our baby son into the world. Franklin Wolf Silver born on 30/11/19."
Julia added: "He's changed our lives for the better in every way. I feel like I've known him my whole life." Prior to their son's arrival, the soap star spoke about the option of names to OK! Magazine - and Ben may have got his way after a rather unusual suggestion Ben said at the time: "I want Han if it's a boy as then he’ll be Han Silver, which sounds like Han Solo and I'm a big Star Wars fan."
And Julia said: "Ben also wanted Wolfgang but that also got vetoed. Although, weirdly, my mum wanted to call me Wolfgang if I'd been a boy – I'm glad I was a girl [laughs]!"
The couple are now expecting their second child. Julia revealed the news by debuting her blossoming baby bump at the British Soap Awards in June. Speaking exclusively to OK! on the red carpet, Julia revealed it has been 'hard' to keep her pregnancy a secret. "It's been quite hard to keep it secret and they've dug out my maternity clothes from three years ago, so it's all systems go again," she told the publication.
As she tried to conceal her bump on the Salford-based set, the soap star did admit that her bump with Franklin was a "lot bigger". She said: "It's generally up to the director or costume department to sort of try and conceal it a bit. Obviously, I'm not as big, I'm used to being a lot bigger when I had Franklin.
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