EastEnders star Michelle Collins' real-life marriage to husband Mike away from Cindy Beale
by Michelle Townsend · RSVP LiveCindy Beale is one of EastEnders' most iconic characters and one of the soap's biggest troublemakers.
Cindy first arrived in Walford in the '90s, and while it seemed like she and Ian were love's young dream, she couldn't help but give in to her wandering eye and cheated on him multiple times, most notably with her husband's half brother David Wicks.
The long-running character "died" off screen back in 1998, so EastEnders fans were thrilled when she made a surprise comeback in 2023. And in that time she has certainly gotten up to her old tricks, as she is now cheating on Ian once more with Junior Knight - the son of her ex-husband George, whom she still very much has strong feelings for.
Read more: EastEnders' Jonny Freeman looks nothing like character Reiss as TV past exposed
Never a dull day in Albert Square!
While Cindy's lies and unfaithtfulness are set to be revealed in an explosive fashion on EastEnders this Christmas, in real life actress Michelle Collins' love life couldn't be any more different.
Michelle, 62, is happily loved up with husband Mike Davidson, 39.
The couple were set up in 2012 by Michelle’s niece and they announced their engagement back in April 2022.
Michelle, who shares daughter Maria with late ex-partner Fabrizio Tassalini, married Mike in a low-key ceremony in London, August two years ago.
The actress said ‘I do’ to Mike, in front of a small group of friends and family, including Michelle's on-screen husband, Ian Beale star Adam Woodyatt.
The beaming bride and groom were showered with confetti as they left the London city venue together. The mum-of-one, who also previously starred on Corrie, shunned the traditional dress for a classy white jumpsuit and paired it with a bohemian flower crown.
Michelle knew Mike was the one for her after a chance encounter with a psychic.
She previously told Prima magazine: "I thought it would never happen; I just didn't think I'd ever get married. But Mike and I will have been married for two years in August.
"I was almost 50 when we met. A psychic told me that I would meet the love of my life when I was nearly 50, and it happened."
While madly in love with Mike, Michelle never envisioned herself getting married one day. She revealed her husband actually proposed to her for quite an emotional reason.
She told the How to be 60 podcast: "I've been engaged a few times, but I never thought I would ever get married and actually he also said he would never get married. I said, 'So why did you suddenly decide? Why did you ask me?' I was intrigued.
"He said, 'Because with your mum gone, I knew how much she meant to you and I felt I wanted to make you feel safe and look after you.' It's such a beautiful lovely thing to say. And I suppose I do feel safe."
Michelle added that Mike is the yin to her yang: "It's a case of somebody I can do nothing with. I can just be me and not worry that he thinks I'm boring, or that I think he's boring. Somebody to be bored with and to do nothing with. I think that is a true partner.
"We are very different people. But I think it's the yin and the yang and that's what makes us tick. He's very supportive, he's not in the same industry, which is really great. He's kind of normal, but can you be normal married to me! You've got to be a very tolerant person.
"I feel very lucky."
With Cindy being in the throes of an affair with Junior on EastEnders at the moment, this means Michelle has to film some seriously steamy scenes at work with co-star Micah Balfour.
However, Mike isn't fazed by his wife getting intimate on screen.
"I don't normally watch the show, only because I can't bear watching myself, not that there's anything wrong with the show," Michelle told Ben Shepherd and Cat Deeley on This Morning.
"But, I thought I better watch it last night because I was on here. And I had kind of warned my husband what had happened.
"So, I said: 'Do you mind not watching with me? I want to watch it on my own.' So, I watched it on my own first upstairs, then he watched it later on catch-up.
"And he went, 'Well it was OK, it wasn't exactly Game Of Thrones, was it?'".