It has been six years since a ‘devastated’ Ashley Jensen faced the terrible tragedy of losing her husband to suicide.
But the actress, who is currently starring as DI Ruth Calder in BBC drama Shetland, has found new happiness – and secretly tied the knot with her long-term beau.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal the star, 54, married fellow actor Kenny Doughty in a ‘super fun’ and emotional ceremony in front of a close group of family and friends at the historic Priston Mill near Bath.
Friends say Ms Jensen, who made her name as Ricky Gervais’ sidekick Maggie in Extras and in US sitcom Ugly Betty, ‘barely stopped smiling all day’ and wore a stunning off-white gown with floral embroidery paired with coral platform sandals.
Former Vera star Doughty, 48, who met the actress on the set of 2017 BBC drama Love, Lies And Records also beamed throughout the August 9 ceremony while dressed in a powder-blue suit with matching suede loafers.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal the Jensen, 54, married fellow actor Kenny Doughty in a ‘super fun’ and emotional ceremony. Pictured: Jensen and Doughty in January
It has been six years since a ‘devastated’ Ashley Jensen faced the terrible tragedy of losing her husband, Terence Beesley, to suicide. Pictured: The pair together in 2016
‘The day looked absolutely beautiful,’ a friend said. ‘Ashley looked just so, so happy. She was smiling and laughing, it was simply idyllic. There appeared to be so much love in that room.’
The pair were joined by Ashley’s son Francis, 14, from her marriage to late husband Terence Beesley, who wore a floral tie that matched the one worn by Mr Doughty.
‘There was a very sweet moment when Francis posed for pictures with Ashley and Kenny,’ the friend added. ‘It was adorable.’
Ms Jensen prompted speculation that she had become engaged to Mr Doughty after she was seen wearing a ring – and attempting to cover her left hand – on The Graham Norton Show earlier this month.
Neither has publicly spoken about or confirmed their relationship, but it is understood it began as a friendship before blossoming into romance.
The couple have been photographed together at showbusiness events, and were spotted holding hands while enjoying a night out together in Bath in 2021.
A source said: ‘He has been an immense support to her in the past few years. They make a lovely couple, and all their friends are absolutely delighted for them.’
Their wedding was all the more poignant given the grief faced by Ms Jensen – who starred again alongside Ricky Gervais in his award-winning After Life, a tragi-comic portrait of a man struggling to cope in the aftermath of his wife’s death from breast cancer.
Jensen and Doughty are pictured here in Love, Lies & Records
Ashley appeared on The Graham Norton Show wearing a ring on her wedding finger
It was in November 2017 that The Bill and EastEnders actor Terence Beesley, Jensen’s partner of 18 years whom she had married in 2007, took his own life in the home they shared with their son in Somerset.
He was 60. Ms Jensen found his body in the family’s Mercedes after she returned from a day out with Francis, then eight.
She told an inquest the following year: ‘Terry and I had been together for 18 years, but I had no idea he was capable of what he did.’ The couple had met in 1999 and married in California before moving back to the UK.
Yorkshire-born Mr Doughty was married to the English actress Caroline Carver for 11 years until they divorced in 2017.
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