Fans of Coronation Street star Alan Halsall, who plays the role of mechanic Tyrone Dobbs, will know that he and wife Lucy-Jo Hudson – who formerly starred in the soap as Katy Harris and later went on to play the role of Rosie Trevanion in Wild At Heart – are expecting their first baby in August…

And today it’s been revealed that the couple have learned they’re having a girl!

They made the revelation during an interview with Hello! magazine and have since tweeted their joy on now being able to start putting the baby’s nursery together.

On April 10th Alan tweeted, “Sat at the hospital with @LucyJo_Hudson for our 20 week scan… Read more & comment »

When Coronation Street legend Bill Tarmey – who of course played the Street’s loveable rogue Jack Duckworth – passed away in November last year, his loss was keenly felt by many of his co-stars…

But while speaking to the Daily Star, Wild At Heart actress Lucy Jo Hudson revealed that her husband, Corrie star Alan Halsall who plays troubled mechanic Tyrone Dobbs, has continued to be affected by Bill’s death, and that there isn’t a day that goes by when he doesn’t think of his friend.

Lucy – who of course met Alan on the set of the show when she starred as Katie Harris – said, “Losing Bill has affected us both but it has hit Al especially hard.

“In his early days at Corrie he was like a surrogate dad to Al and guided him… Read more & comment »

Fans of Wild at Heart are of course only just getting over the emotion of the last ever episode, but tonight – Monday, 31 December at 6:00PM – just to ease the withdrawals, ITV will air Wild at Heart: Filming With Animals.

The special one-off documentary is narrated by Stephen Tompkinson and goes behind the scenes of Wild at Heart to introduce us to the animals and their handlers.

He’ll also give us an insider’s view as to how some of the series biggest animal stunts are achieved, such as a lion chase across a river… Read more & comment »

Dawn Steele was distraught while filming the final scenes of TV drama Wild at Heart.

The actress, who plays Alice Trevanion in the ITV1 series, broke down while shooting the last episode as she struggled to come to terms with no longer working on the show. Read more & comment »

Fans of Wild at Heart were of course sad to hear that the show has been cancelled, but the good news is that on Sunday, 30 December at 8:00PM, we’re promised an absolute belter of a farewell episode!

And of course, Stephen Tompkinson, Dawn Steele, Hayley Mills, Deon Stewardson, Lucy Jo Hudson and Olivia Scott-Taylor all return for the final time to recreate their roles, which they play against the stunning backdrop of the African plains for this two-hour single drama.

It’s New Year’s Eve at Leopard’s Den, and Alice has returned, but the stress of combining work with caring for a baby is causing tension between her and Danny, especially when their flirtatious new neighbour Martin makes a play for her… Read more & comment »

The disappointing news has emerged that long running ITV series Wild at Heart is to come to an end after a final Christmas Special this year.

The series, starring Stephen Tompkinson, Hayley Mills, Jill Halfpenny and former Coronation Street star follows the Trevanion family as they face the challenge of running a game park and nature reserve in South Africa.

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It was revealed earlier this year that veterinary saga Wild at Heart was being shelved at the end of the next series due to a fall in viewer numbers when compared with hit period drama Call the Midwife.

However, in today’s Daily Mirror, some of Wild at Heart’s cast and production team claim that what sunk their show was actually the huge cost of making Julian Fellowes’ mini-series, Titanic.

But somewhat ironically, episodes of Wild at Heart have been averaging about 5.7million viewers per episode – but peaking at 7.5million – while just 3.5million of us tuned in to the final episode of Titanic last weekend.

A Wild at Heart insider told the paper, “The feeling is that they sunk so much money into Titanic that they are having to make savings elsewhere and we are bearing the brunt of that… Read more & comment »

Strange things are happening at Leopard’s Den. The family awake to find frogs everywhere, seemingly having rained down overnight; the giraffe refuses to budge from the front gate and the cheetah is off its food. As Fatani says, portentously, it’s almost as if the animals don’t want Danny to leave… However leave he must, and Du Plessis has promised Caroline that he’ll hide his true feelings from his friend, so as not to make the situation any more difficult than it already is.

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It’s been reported today that a dramatic drop in viewing figures has prompted ITV bosses to consider ending veterinary drama Wild at Heart after the current series has ended.

The Mirror reports that last weekend, only 5.7million of us tuned in to watch Wild at Heart, whereas at its peak, the show regularly attracted around 10million viewers.

And given that the show is shot on location in Africa, it’s one of the most expensive of ITV’s shows to make.

An insider told the paper, “Everyone involved knows it’s expensive to make and it’s not as popular as it used to be so it’s not rocket science.

“The cast and crew love making it, but all good things come to an end and we’ve had a good run…” Read more & comment »

Former Corrie star Lucy-Jo Hudson – who played Katy Harris from 2002 to 2005, and who is married to Alan Halsall who plays Tyrone Dobbs in Coronation Street – has told TV Times that she’s “really chuffed” to be working on Wild at Heart again.

Lucy also revealed that her character, Rosie Trevanion, goes back to South Africa to help out her “dysfunctional” family.

She said, “Her family is very dysfunctional at the minute, with everyone in their own little world…

“Plus they’ve lost Leopard’s Den. Caroline needs some back up and phones Rosie…”

Of returning to the show, Lucy said, “I’m really chuffed. I absolutely love being here.

“I was sad to leave even though it was the right choice at the time…” Read more & comment »

Former EastEnders actress Jill Halfpenny has discovered that for her, the old acting adage about never working with children or animals doesn’t apply in her role as Fiona Lynch in Wild at Heart…

Speaking to the PA, Jill revealed that she’s loved being around exotic animals while filming for the series in South Africa. And she particularly reveled in being up close to leopard cubs.

She said, “I’d been warned before I started that acting on the series could be a bit difficult to get used to at first…

“You can just as easily be performing with an elephant standing next to you or something, but lively young leopards wasn’t what I expected!

“It was a bit scary but to my relief, they were very well-behaved… Read more & comment »

As fans of hit drama Wild At Heart will know, the show returned to our screens last night with a new series, but actress Dawn Steele – who plays vet Alice Trevanion – has told Hello magazine, there was plenty of drama for her behind the scenes while filming for the show.

36 year old Dawn – who’s also starred in Monarch of the Glen and Sea of Souls – was pregnant with her first child during filming, which took place in South Africa, and had been diagnosed with the potentially life threatening condition, placenta praevia, which means that the placenta is placed over the cervix, making natural childbirth exceptionally dangerous.

So, on November 9th of last year, two weeks before her expected due date, Dawn was hurriedly flown back to the UK – disrupting filming for the show – to have her baby daughter, Coco.

Speaking to Hello of the traumatic birth, Dawn said, “The plan had been that my character would have her baby in the series, but it was not to be.

“I went to hospital and I was put on bed rest for a few days… Read more & comment »

Filming Wild At Heart under the unrelenting heat of the African sun can cause even the most professional of actors to seek out a place to cool down between takes. Unfortunately one of the larger, four legged stars took it one step too far…

The cast and crew were amazed to find 9 year old Lucy the Giraffe had broken in to the Leopard’s Den set and had accidentally fallen in the swimming pool.

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Wild at Heart is of course filmed in Africa, and filming outside can often be a punishing and warm business…

So it’s little wonder that the cast and crew often enjoy a quick swim on-set to cool down, however, when giraffe Lucy decided to follow suit, she got herself stuck in the pool and had to be rescued.

ITV report that nine year old Lucy broke down fences surrounding the Leopard’s Den set, and slipped into the swimming pool there.

The show’s producer, Adam Friedlander, said, “We are not 100% sure how she fell into the pool…

“But we think she may have been drinking from it and with her head being too low became disorientated and fell in.

“The animals on the reserve roam free and we are of course very mindful of their safety and try to interfere with their habitat as little as possible… Read more & comment »

Actress Jill Halfpenny will be joining the cast of ITV drama Wild at Heart it has been revealed.

Jill – best known as Kate Mitchell from BBC soap Eastenders – will take on the role of Ed Lynch’s estranged ex wife Fiona Lynch.

Fiona arrives at Leopard’s Den, a lost and lonely character and we quickly discover that she’s the reason her husband, Ed (Robert Bathurst) is as sour, grumpy and emotionally in denial as he is! Fiona is a tremendous flirt and she’s also used to getting her own way, she left Ed for a younger model (which is something he’s unable to forgive her for) but now she’s intent on winning Ed back.

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