Call The Midwife’s Stephen McGann is having to use his best bedside manner as he comforts co-stars Helen George and Jack Ashton after they split.
The actress, 39, and her partner, 36, who were together for seven years, are said to have ‘drifted apart’ and decided to go their separate ways ‘some months ago’.
Stephen, who plays Dr Patrick Turner in the hit BBC period drama, is married to the show’s scriptwriter Heidi Thomas.
The actor said: ‘We’re all like a family. Helen is fine, I love Helen and Jack.’
Confirming the split last week, Helen told The Mirror: ‘Some months ago, we separated. Our two beautiful girls remain the focus and I respectfully ask for privacy for this next chapter.’
Helping out: Call The Midwife’s Stephen McGann is having to use his best bedside manner as he comforts co-stars Helen George and Jack Ashton after they split
Split: The actress, 39, and her partner, 36, who were together for seven years, are said to have ‘drifted apart’ and decided to go their separate ways ‘some months ago’
While a source added: ‘Helen and Jack’s decision to end their relationship has been amicable, and no one else is involved, they have just grown apart as a couple.’
‘They are both incredibly committed to working together to be the best parents they can for their two daughters,’ they said.
MailOnline has contacted Helen’s representatives for further comment.
Helen met Jack while they were both starring on smash hit BBC drama series Call the Midwife.
Helen has played Trixie Franklin on the show since 2012, while Jack joined the series two years later as Tom Hereward.
The pair’s characters embarked on a romance on screen and Tom proposed to Trixie, before she ended their relationship.
In real life, the couple were said to have fallen for each other after travelling to South Africa to film the show’s 2016 Christmas Special.
A year later, they then welcomed their first child Wren, before their second daughter Lark was born in November 2021.
In May 2021, Helen gave a rare insight into her relationship with Jack and told how them working in the same industry helped their romance.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s not like you have time to have hobbies at the weekends. You’re on set for a long time every day and you don’t get to see many other people.
‘We are like-minded people who understand the industry, the career and the long hours.’
Before her romance with Jack, Helen was married to actor Oliver Boot for three years before they split in 2015 .
Helen met her former partner on set of BBC drama Hotel Babylon, and the couple married in December 2012.
The married couple confirmed that they had parted ways in September 2015, telling the Mirror : ‘I can confirm that Helen separated from her husband some time ago.’
The news of her split from Jack comes days after Helen revealed that she had broken her leg on Sunday.
The actor said: ‘We’re all like a family. Helen is fine, I love Helen and Jack.’
Co-stars: Helen met Jack while they were both starring on smash hit BBC drama series Call the Midwife and started dating while filming in South Africa in 2016
Family: The couple of seven years (pictured in September 2021) – who share daughters Wren, six, and Lark, two – are now focusing on co-parenting their two children
She took to Instagram to update her followers, sharing a picture of her right leg in a cast and wheeling herself around on a scooter.
The star remained in bright spirits and kept an optimistic smile on her face as she beamed at the camera but hasn’t said how she obtained the injury.
Captioning the post, she simply wrote ‘Speedy’.
Helen wore a tight black dress and black Adidas Samba trainers, with a Saint Laurent bag around her shoulder.
Despite being left immobile, the actress didn’t let her injury get in the way of having a good time as she shared a snap from Soho House Festival.
She looked in high spirits as she posed alongside actress Pippa Duffy and writer Vikki Stone for a sweet snap.
Helen’s also recently teased the return of famous faces for Call The Midwife ‘s final ever episode.
The actress admitted that it would be ‘amazing’ to have some old characters back on the show .
Among the favourites to appear on the BBC drama is Miranda Hart.
The star played nurse and midwife Chummy between 2012 and 2015 – but left after not being able to ‘birth the schedule to make it work’, she said at the time.
Speaking to RadioTimes about the possibility of a reunion with past characters, Helen said: ‘We’ve talked about that, wouldn’t it be nice?
Exciting: Helen’s also recently teased the return of famous faces for Call The Midwife ‘s final ever episode
‘Like at the end of Titanic, all the characters come and it’s just beautiful. It would have been amazing to have everybody.’
Teasing reunion plans ever further, she continued: ‘Look, you’ll have to wait and see. But it’ll be nice at some point – maybe at the end of the very, very last series – to get some of the old faces back, for sure.’
The BBC recently confirmed that the show will return for two more seasons, keeping it on air until at least 2026.
The show is set in the 1950s and 1960s in London’s East End – and focuses on a group of midwives in a nursing convent.
