Jill Halfpenny: Byker Grove, Grief and Life After Loss
5/19/202646 min
Actress Jill Halfpenny joins Sally on the sofa this week for a heartfelt and revealing new episode of A Night In With Sally Lindsay.
Fresh from starring alongside Sally in Channel 5’s gripping new drama Number One Fan, Jill reflects on her remarkable career - from her breakthrough role in Byker Grove to becoming a household name in EastEnders and Coronation Street, and even lifting the Glitterball trophy as champion of Strictly Come Dancing.
But behind the success, Jill has faced unimaginable personal heartbreak. Having lost her father unexpectedly as a child and later experiencing the sudden death of her partner, Matt, Jill opens up candidly about living with grief, navigating life after loss, and the lessons she’s learned about resilience, healing and finding gratitude through difficult times.
In this honest and emotional conversation, Jill shares how loss has shaped her outlook on life and inspired a more positive, grounded perspective. Jill and Sally also share plenty of laughs as they look back on working together, swap stories from their soap star days, and discuss their brave decisions to step away from the TV roles that made them household names.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
Welcome aboard Via Rail. Please sit and enjoy. Please sit and sip [glass clinks], play [women laugh], post.
Jill Halfpenny· Guest0:07
Mm.
Speaker 00:08
Taste.
Sally Lindsay· Host0:09
Mm.
Speaker 00:09
View and enjoy. Via Rail: Love the Way.
Jill Halfpenny· Guest0:14
[bright music] Nothing was made in Newcastle at the time.
Sally Lindsay· Host0:19
No, no.
Jill Halfpenny· Guest0:20
And I used to literally say to my mom, "I'd love to be in a Geordie Grange Hill."
Sally Lindsay· Host0:23
[laughs] [laughs] And it came about.
Jill Halfpenny· Guest0:25
Why do we not celebrate people's wins? Achievement is, is something to be proud of. Women of our age can lead, and people will be interested. When I left Coronation Street, I remember having dreams that year after going, "What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?" Any time an actor walks away from security, you think, "Am I a lunatic?" When you have the fire inside you, you just have to sometimes jump.
Sally Lindsay· Host0:51
[upbeat music] Welcome, darling, brilliant, talented Jill.
Jill Halfpenny· Guest0:59
Oh.
Sally Lindsay· Host1:00
How are you?
Jill Halfpenny· Guest1:00
Hello.
Sally Lindsay· Host1:01
So you and I have just starred in Channel 5's Number One Fan.
Jill Halfpenny· Guest1:05
Are you still my number one fan?
Sally Lindsay· Host1:07
I'm still your number one fan.
Jill Halfpenny· Guest1:08
[laughs] Back off.
Sally Lindsay· Host1:09
Back off. [laughs] I always will be your number one fan. For anyone who hasn't seen it, it's about, um, a daytime TV star c- called Lucy, played by Jill, and she's got this number one fan called Donna, played by me. And at the surface, it seems like, um, she's just literally s- met her idol, and she gets a bit weird about it, but