The Bay actress Olwen May's partner is a Downton Abbey star

Nicky Morris
·2-min read
Woman with brunette hair sitting at desk
OLWEN MAY as DC Louise Clay in The Bay (Tall Story Pictures / ITV)

Olwen May has joined season five of ITV's hit crime drama, The Bay, in which she plays a new member of the Morecambe MIU team, DC Louise 'Lou' McClaren.

Leading star Marsha Thomason reprises her role as family liaison officer DS Jenn Townsend, who investigates the shocking death of a 23-year-old university student.

Olwen, 62, is no stranger to hit dramas, having appeared in the likes of Happy Valley, Vera, Slow Horses and more. But did you know that her partner is also an actor? And he's a major Downton Abbey star!

Olwen's career

Olwen is an actor and director. The TV star boasts an impressive list of credits, including Silent Witness, Mount Pleasant, Coronation Street, Brassic and Emmerdale.

Olwen is also an acting coach and works with performers, drama school applicants and actors in training.

Woman with brunette hair sitting at desk
Olwen May plays DC Louise Clay in The Bay (Tall Story Pictures / ITV)

Her website states: "I work with voice production, textual analysis, script choice for auditions, Shakespeare, character development, audition skills and movement awareness. But most importantly, I always seek to help actors to find spontaneity, immediacy and honesty, based on very clear purposes and objectives and sound technique."

Woman with brunette hair standing in office
Olwen is an actor, director and voice coach (Tall Story Pictures / ITV)

The Happy Valley actress also coaches those who want to improve their public speaking or presentation skills.

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Olwen's famous partner

Olwen, who hails from Leeds, is in a relationship with actor Kevin Doyle, who is perhaps best known for playing footman Joseph Molesley in ITV's Downton Abbey.

The pair both appeared in the BBC's hit crime drama, Happy Valley, in which Olwen portrayed the headteacher of Ryan's school Mrs Beresford and Kevin played DS John Wadsworth.

Woman and man holding hands on red carpet
Olwen is in a relationship with Kevin Doyle (Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)

The couple will work together again in another of Sally Wainwright's shows, Riot Women, which comes to the BBC later this year.

Olwen and Kevin live in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, according to The Yorkshire Post. 

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Kevin as Joseph Molesley in ITV's Downton Abbey (Carnival Film & Television Ltd)

The actors like to keep their relationship out of the spotlight, so not much is known about how they met or how long they've been together. The pair were most recently pictured holding hands at the world premiere of the Downton Abbey film in 2019.

The Bay season five begins on ITV on Sunday 2 March on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm. 

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