Maureen Lipman, 79, opens up on 'rare and precious' newlywed life with husband David Turner as she says: 'I wish any person on their own at my age could find this level of happiness'

Maureen Lipman and her new husband David Turner have opened up on finding love together in their late seventies, six months after the couple tied the knot.

The Coronation Street star, 79, exchanged vows with her businessman partner, 80, in an intimate ceremony at his son's London home in September.

The couple first met in 2023 and the actress spontaneously asked him to marry her a year later, 20 years after the death of her first husband, and three after his wife passed away.

Opening up on the joyful surprise of their union in their twilight years to The Sunday Times, Maureen said that despite only being together for just over a year when they got engaged, it 'somehow felt like we’d known each other for the whole of our lives'.

The soap star gushed that she soon learned she 'wanted to be with him 24/7' and recalled that when she moved into David's London home, 'my heart kept telling me I was coming home'.

And despite both being nearing 80 years old when they tied the knot, she declared: 'Sorry if this sounds smug, but I wish any person who’s on their own at my age could find this level of happiness.'

David explained that when he first met Maureen he'd not been in a place to find love again, as he only recently lost his beloved wife of 50 years, Frances, to Alzheimer’s.

Having been her primary carer for her final five years, he described how he'd 'hard to hold her hand and watch her disappear' as her dementia progressed and admitting: 'The feeling of helplessness broke my heart.'

However, he said that after spending more time with Maureen, what convinced him to tie the knot again was 'knowing that if anything happened to Maureen, I would want to take care of her.'

David added that he also became aware of the passage of time and how fleeting joy could be, saying: 'When you’re young time stretches on for ever, but when you get to your seventies the second hand begins to pick up speed. 

'We might have one year together, five years or 20 years, so let’s make them the happiest they can be.'

However, Maureen revealed her worries ahead of her going on the UK tour of her new show, Allegra, from May to July, which will be the first length of the time the pair are going to be apart from each other.

Admitting it will be 'difficult', she said her new marriage had changed her perspective on the importance of work over all else, as she was reluctant to 'f*** it up'.

'Let’s just say I don’t want to rock the boat too much,' she said. 'I’ve found someone to look after and someone who wants to look after me. What we have is rare and precious, and I hope I don’t f*** it up.'

Maureen, who plays Evelyn Plummer in Corrie, shared the news of her engagement in the Spectator revealing that she had been the one that popped the question while on a train in August 2024.

She wrote: '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.'

She was previously married to TV scriptwriter Jack Rosenthal for 30 years until his death in 2004, with whom she shares daughter Amy, 50, and Adam, 48.

While David is also the father of three children from his marriage to Frances, who passed away in 2022.

Writing about how the children took the news, Maureen 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 late 2023, when she shared that she was bringing a 'gentleman friend' to that year's National Television Awards.

Discussing finding love again at 77, the star was overjoyed to be sharing life, saying: '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, where Maureen proudly said of David: 'That's my significant other.'

After the death of her husband, she dated Italian businessman Guido Castro for 13 years before his death in 2021. 

Speaking about her partner's death, she 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.'