Gillian Kearney (Jessica) Leaving!
Casualty star Gillian Kearney set pulses racing as sexy nurse Jessica Harrison without finding true love off screen.
But now, after two years in the hit BBC1 series, the stunning brunette has fallen for her own real-life medic.
Gillian, 37, will wed trainee doc Eddie in Ireland later this year.
The actress, whose TV character is currently in a coma in a dramatic storyline, smiled: "I've got my own doctor now."
Gillian met Eddie, 36 - she's not telling his surname - in Bristol, where Casualty is shot. Chris James, one of the show's medical advisers, had invited her to meet some of his friends.
She recalled: "It was a big lovely group. We met at a hotel's outside bar on a summer night in 2008. Eddie, who is training at Bristol Royal Infirmary, only popped in briefly because he was studying.
"We only chatted for five or ten minutes but I thought he was very cool. After that we'd meet up as part of a group of friends. But we got together at Christmas 2008. So we haven't been together that long but it is long enough to know it's right."
Eddie proposed last October. Gillian said: "He went down on one knee when he popped the question and we had a bottle of Bollinger champagne. Then he took me to a castle and up in a hot-air balloon - it was very romantic.
"He's very clever. He already has a PhD in physics but decided he wanted to train to be a doctor. His father and brother are anaesthetists."
Eddie did not even mind that Gillian can't stand the sight of blood - even the phoney stuff used in Casualty.
The couple will marry in County Clare, where Gillian has a home.
She laughed: "Planning a wedding is such good fun - it's a licence to be really girlie. And my three-year-old niece is really looking forward to being my flower girl."
Gillian hopes to start a family eventually. She said: "It would be lovely if we were blessed with children. One day - but who knows." The Liverpool-born star's happiness contrasts with Jessica's turbulent life on TV.
When she arrived at Holby City Hospital in 2008, Jessica was married to consultant orthopaedic surgeon Sean Anderson (Richard Dillane, 45).
But she had an affair with colleague Adam Trueman (Tristan Gemmill, 42). When she got pregnant she told Sean the baby was his. But he left the country, taking their two children with him.
Jessica had the baby, Harry, and she and Adam were due to get married at New Year. But the wedding was cancelled as they were called back to A&E to help deal with a major incident.
They made do with a blessing in the hospital chapel. Then, while returning to the wedding venue to sign the legal papers, their car skidded and crashed into an icy lake and sank, leaving Harry dead and Jessica in a coma. Gillian said: "During filming we felt safe but it was very cold. It was also very odd feeling the water come up through the car as we were submerged. It was absolutely freezing doing the scene where Adam dragged me from the lake. My legs were freezing, my lips were going blue and I was shaking.
"I had a wet suit under my clothes but it was skimpy because it had to be hidden by my wedding outfit. Tristan could wear a thicker one because he had a suit."
Coma-stricken Jessica experiences flashbacks in next Saturday's special Casualty episode. Gillian said: "She knows deep down that baby Harry is gone so she doesn't really want to wake up."
Gillian, who has three brothers - one, Tom, is a footballer with non-league Altrincham - started acting at school.
She played the young Shirley in 1989 hit movie Shirley Valentine. But she shot to fame in Brookside as Debbie, girlfriend of Damon Grant (Simon O'Brien).
Gillian also starred in Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll as well as Shameless, Clocking Off and Blue Murder.
She is leaving Casualty and is on screen for the last time next month. She will miss co-stars such as Sunetra Sarker and Georgia Taylor and said: "I've had some great storylines. Jess has really been through it."
But she won't miss the fake blood. Gillian laughed: "It didn't smell or feel real but I still had to look away from it when we weren't filming."
