Is Sue Cleaver married and who is her husband? Inside the Corrie and I'm A Celeb star's relationship history

As I'm A Celeb fans wait in anticipation to watch all the jungle drama and bushtucker action from the comfort of their own homes, safe in the knowledge they won't be eating insects for tea, the desire to know more about the 2022 contestants is growing.

Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver, who played Eileen Grimshaw on Corrie for 22 years, is just one of the brave celebs who has signed up for this year's show alongside Love Island star Olivia Attwood, Lioness Jill Scott,and Loose Women's Charlene White. But even the controversial addition of former Tory MP Matt Hancock, who acted as Health Secretary during the coronavirus pandemic and was famously caught not only cheating on his wife but breaking his own social distancing rules, has not been able to shadow the controversial history of Sue Cleaver's love-life. 

The Corrie star sparked curiosity recently as many wanted to know why she is exempt from eating trials and here we take a closer look at the campmates personal life, and answer the question, 'is Sue Cleaver married?'

Is Sue Cleaver married?

Sue Cleaver is married to Brian Owen, an electrician she met while they were both working on Coronation Street, though it is unclear when the pair tied the knot. Sue was previously married to fellow actor James Quinn for 10 years before she broke off the relationship in 2003. 

Sue and James have remained good friends since their break-up, working together on Corrie and the ironically titled play, Marriages Made In Heaven, which hit the stage in 2009.

At the time, James spoke to The Manchester Evening News and detailed what is was like working with his ex.  He said, “It’s quite funny to be doing this with Sue. Although we got divorced, we get on well. But [before this] we haven’t acted together on stage since we first met in a play in 1991.”

James is known for his work on Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks as well as for playing roles such as Phil in Early Doors, Mr Briggs in Gentleman Jack, and PC Robert Rhymer in Fat Friends.

Did Sue Cleaver have an affair?

At age 38, Sue Cleaver left her husband of 10 years after falling for her current husband, Brian Owen. Sue moved out of the home she shared with her then partner James Quinn to settle down with Brian, who had also left his marriage to pursue the new relationship. As of writing, the pair remain together.

At the time of the affair, Sue told The Mirror, "This has been a difficult time for everybody, but Brian and I are committed to a future together. We are both brutally aware of the turmoil this has caused."

The newspaper reported that a source said, "Sue has been in bits about this for weeks. She and Brian know how much pain their affair has caused, but are very much in love."

Does Sue Cleaver have children?

Sue Cleaver shares a son, Elliot, with her ex-husband James Quinn. Not much is known about Elliot apart from the fact he was born in 1998 and, unlike his mum and dad, likes to keep out of the spotlight. We do know that he recently gave Sue her fourth grandchild, with his newborn arriving at the end of October, just before his mother flew to the Australian jungle.

The 59-year-old actress also has three other grandchildren, thanks to her partner, Brian Owen's', children from his previous marriage.

Sue Cleaver's deadly health battle

In 2019, Sue appeared on This Morning to recount her battle with sepsis, which she contracted from a very severe kidney infection. She explained to the shocked hosts that she fell ill on the set of Corrie and is indebted to her husband who had saved the day.

She shared, “My husband, who also works on Corrie, he said, ‘Something’s not right’, but I said, ‘It’s all right it’s the flu, I’m taking ibuprofen, I just want to sleep’.

“He rang our daughter-in-law who’s a paramedic and she said, ‘Get her to hospital’.”

Sue revealed that she was left fighting for her life as she put off treatment in fear of upsetting her co-stars. Because there is only a one hour window in which treatment for sepsis has the most chance of working, this delay could have created a far worse outcome. 

“The biggest lesson for me was we stride on through life. We’ve got commitments, we put up and get on with things. Big mistake. We make excuses because we’re so aware of upsetting filming for everyone,” she admitted to the hosts.

Sue detailed that the road to recovery has been a tough one, revealing, "My short term memory isn’t good. I had to go back to Corrie to film a few scenes and it took me so long to learn the lines, so it’s taken a little while for everything to get back to normal. It’s taken me a long time to get better."

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