Maureen Lipman has announced her engagement to business consultant boyfriend David Turner.
The Coronation Street legend, 78, revealed she was the one who popped the question to her partner, also 78, while attempting to make a joke on a train journey.
Maureen wrote in the Spectator: ‘Later that night my partner David and I decided to tell our children that, with a combined age of 156, we are going to get married.
‘In truth I had been rather against the “M” word, but on a train coming back from Edinburgh he mentioned that it was the minor festival of Tu B’Av – a day when a Jewish woman can ask a man to marry her.
‘Unable to resist the gag, I slid under the table separating us onto one knee and asked him for his hand. To my surprise and slight panic, he gave it.’
Maureen Lipman has revealed she’s engaged to business consultant boyfriend David Turner (pictured on September 5)
The Coronation Street legend, 78, revealed she was the one who popped the question to her partner, also 78, while attempting to make a joke on a train journey (pictured in May)
The actress was married to TV scriptwriter Jack Rosenthal for 30 years until his death in 2004 and they welcomed daughter Amy, 50, and Adam, 48. David also has three children from a previous relationship.
Writing about how the children took the news, she shared: ‘All reactions were warm, and all were individual.
‘One child said that he needed time “to process it”. We broke the news to another as he slid leaves into a new dining table, transforming the scene into a Jack Rosenthal play – one with, I like to think, a happy ending.’
Maureen first mentioned David in autumn 2023, when she shared that she was bringing a ‘gentleman friend’ to that year’s National Television Awards.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Express she said: ‘I’m going with my gentleman friend David.’
Discussing finding love again at 77, the star was overjoyed to be sharing life with a partner.
She said: ‘It’s a gift for all concerned. It’s a gift and he’s been very nice. I’ve met some nice men in my life, some really interesting men, and we will see where it goes.’
They made their public appearance debut at the Oldie Of The Year Awards that November.
At the event, Maureen proudly said of David: ‘That’s my significant other.’
The actress was married to TV scriptwriter Jack Rosenthal for 30 years until his death in 2004 (pictured on their wedding day in 1973) and they welcomed daughter Amy, 50, and Adam, 48
Maureen had a 13-year relationship with computer expert Guido Castro, who died in 2021, after his body was ‘weakened’ by Covid (pictured in 2014)
After the death of her husband, Maureen dated Italian businessman Guido Castro for 13 years before his death in 2021.
Speaking about her partner’s death, Maureen confirmed: ‘He got Covid – it wasn’t Covid that killed him but it weakened him terribly.
‘We don’t know how he got it or when or if he had it when he got the vaccine.’
Maureen heartbreakingly added: ‘I said to Guido, ”It’s time to go. You’ve got to let go”. And I think for once in his life he actually did what I told him.’
Maureen is now best-known for her role as established character Tyrone Dobbs’ grandmother in Corrie.
She has appeared in the Manchester-based soap as Evelyn Plummer, mother of addict Cassie Plummer, since 2018.
The role has won her two awards: Best Newcomer from the Inside Soap Awards and Best Comedic Performance from The British Soap Awards.
Maureen was made a Dame in 2021 in the belated Queen’s birthday honours list in recognition of a stage and screen career stretching back more than 50 years.
After training at LAMDA, her work was mostly in the theatre and the actress was a member of the RSC and Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre Company in the 70s.
She later came to prominence on television playing an agony aunt whose own personal life was a shambles in the sitcom Agony in the late 70s, and then as Jewish grandmother Beattie in a string of famous BT adverts.
On the big screen she has had supporting roles in Educating Rita with Michael Caine and Julie Walters, and Roman Polanski’s 2002 Oscar winner The Pianist.
Maureen plays Evelyn Plummer, the long-lost grandmother of Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) in Coronation Street
In recent months, Maureen has been a vocal advocate for Israel amid the conflict with Gaza.
Commenting on the conflict in April, she said the ‘left and the right are interchangeable’ when it comes to the hatred of the Jewish state.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, she said ‘not a day goes by’ when she does not think of the hostages that are still trapped in Gaza.
She also hit out at the acting community for jumping on ‘the bandwagon’ against Zionism.
Last October, an open letter was signed by famous actors who condemned the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza, including Steve Coogan, Maxine Peake, Tilda Swinton and Charles Dance.
The letter was signed by more than 2,000 actors, musicians and artists, and accuses the Government of ‘not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them’.
It called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but was criticised for failing to condemn Hamas’ terror attacks.