Dan Osborne on what's next with Jac Jossa romance - from TOWIE to more kids

EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa got fans talking earlier this year, when she posted a series of sweet family photos over Easter weekend – minus her husband Dan Osborne, 32. And the TV star was also pictured without her wedding ring.

Naturally, it didn’t take fans long to notice, and the soap star was bombarded with messages asking whether her relationship was on the rocks to the former TOWIE and Celebrity Big Brother star, who is the father of her two daughters, Ella, nine, and Mia, who turns six this week.

The rumours were quickly denied by Jacqueline, who subsequently took to Instagram to post a number of cute family snaps, with her wedding ring firmly back in place.

And sources close to the EastEnders actress, 31, have said that they are “happier than ever”, and that Dan was simply missing from the Instagram post due to being “busy with hosting duties”, including looking after his parents. Friends close to Jacqueline say she often removes her rings, especially when she’s filming the BBC One soap, over fears of losing them.

The interest in the couple’s marriage is no doubt due to their past troubles. Jacqueline, who returned to her role of Lauren Branning in EastEnders in January, following a five-year hiatus, first started dating Dan back in 2014, but the pair split for a brief period soon after.

And although they reunited in 2015 and married in a fairy-tale ceremony in 2017, after a two-year engagement, they split again in 2020 during the lockdown, with Jacqueline moving out of the family home in Essex for a while to live with her parents.

Dan’s rumoured infidelity was thought to be the cause of their woes, and in 2020 he did confess to making “mistakes”, saying “I’ve done things I shouldn’t have done”, as took responsibility for his actions.

He even admitted that if Jacqueline had behaved the same way he did, he would have walked out on their relationship, saying, “If it was the other way around I’d be gone.”

Throughout, Jacqueline had remained silent about her marriage, but during an appearance on Lorraine shortly after she was crowned winner of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2019, she finally opened up. “We have been going through it for two years… this isn’t new for me. At the same time I was really glad in a way because it made me think… while I was in there, I had no choice… I was in there for three and a half weeks, no phone, no contact with anyone, there was nothing but time and it helped me a lot.

“To be honest I want to hit a restart button… it’s been two years of me basically giving him hell so it’s not like he’s got away lightly at all. He knows he’s done a lot wrong and there’s lots of stuff that isn’t true at all.”

Clearly, their reunion wasn’t plain sailing, but five years on, the loved-up pair are keen to show that they have finally put their troubles behind them.

So here, we caught up with Dan Osborne to talk about marriage and kids as well as his own future as a TV star…

Hi, Dan! How is your lovely wife, Jacqueline?

She’s really good and she’s loving being back at work on EastEnders.

You guys have been married for seven years and have had your ups and downs. Would you consider renewing your vows?

I don’t know. I always get asked things like this, and I don’t really mind. But it takes a lot of planning, and there is a lot of messing around, and we are already married… we’ve already done it.

You have two daughters, and a son [Teddy] from a previous relationship, but are you keen to add to your family?

I don’t think we’ll have any more. I think we’re good. We have spoken about it, but Jacqueline’s back at work now. Our youngest one, Mia, is nearly six, and it’s hard to go back and start all over again. Three is a good number as well.

Are your children showing any signs of going into the showbiz world or acting?

Mia is! I can guarantee that, one day, you’re going to see her on the telly or something. She’s a proper character.

Do you keep in touch with anyone from The Only Way Is Essex?

Not really. If I see them, I say hello, and that’s about it. I’ve seen Lockie [James Lock] a few times, but that’s all.

You competed on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018. Are you friends with anyone from the show?

My boy, Ben Jardine!

And do you watch any reality shows, like Love Island?

Not really. I know a few previous contestants; I’ve done a few charity football matches and got to meet them there, and that’s when I found out they’ve been on Love Island, but I just don’t watch it. I prefer to put on a good series or a movie. And with Love Island, they’re all on it for some followers and a bit of a link up with Pretty Little Thing [the clothing brand] – I don’t think they’re actually on it for love. It’s just not my thing.

You made your name on reality TV, but you seem to have turned your back on that world now. Would you ever consider a return to TOWIE?

Probably not. I’m alright [laughs]. That just makes for drama, and I don’t need it.

Now that you’re a dad-of-three and married, do you feel like you wouldn’t have a place on the show anymore?

No, what am I going to do? [Laughs].