ITV Coronation Street: Real life of Leanne Battersby actress Jane Danson - soap star partner of 22 years and tragic loss

Leanne Battersby is a familiar face of Coronation Street.

The character arrived to the cobbles in 1997 when it was announced the 'family from hell' were to be introduced to the hit soap to draw up some trouble.

Leanne is played by actress Jane Danson - who left the show in 2000 not long after the harrowing storyline that saw her character become a drug addict.

She returned again in 2004, where she went on to marry Peter Barlow and then Nick Tilsley for the second time, before the couple parted again.

While there has been many ups and downs, affairs and marriages, Jane's real life is very different from the screen.

The 43-year-old actress from Bury has been with her husband, Robert Beck, for 22 years.

He's also a familiar face in TV, having starred in Brookside, Emmerdale, Waterloo Road, and even had a stint in Corrie in 2008.

More recently, Robert plays Fergus Collins in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.

Jane has also taken on many roles aside from Leanne, and first started out in children's TV with drama Children's Ward and then CBBC sitcom Out of Tune.

She's also appeared in ITV period drama The Grant, starred as nurse Samantha Docherty in Always and Everyone and played the first lesbian police officer, Gemma Osbourne, in police drama The Bill.

The pair met in 1999 at the British Soap Awards - but Jane has previously admitted she had a crush on Robert since she was 15.

After years of friendship, which turned into romance, the loved-up couple tied the knot in 2005 before welcoming their first child Harry just one year later, and second son Sam in 2009.

Speaking with OK! last year, Leanne said the secret to their long and happy relationship is friendship.

"Me and my husband have been together for 22 years, and we're really