This time I know I’m marrying The One
Hollyoaks’ James Sutton on finding ‘his rock’ after split
The loved-up pair posted a glowing Instagram picture from a clifftop restaurant to share their happy news.
But as their tans wore off, so did the romance. After just two months they split.
Today, two years later, James reveals how he knew it was wrong when they got back home.
Now he hopes it is second time lucky as he tells the Sunday Mirror he is engaged again – this time to student Rachael Collin, who the Hollyoaks hunk describes as “my rock”.
HERO
James, 34, said: “I got engaged the first time I think for the wrong reasons, not because I was so in love.
“Kit is an amazing girl and there was no one else involved. We got back from our holiday and I had a nagging feeling it wasn’t right. We split up soon after.”
A few months later, the former Emmerdale star met his new love Rachael at Glastonbury.
“I was watching this girl pumping up an air bed with a foot pump for about half an hour and I thought, ‘I’ve got an electric pump in my bag, I could be a hero here’,” he laughed.
“So I went over and said, ‘Excuse me, do you want to borrow my pump?’
“And we have been pretty much inseparable ever since.”
James says they have only ever spent three weekends apart. Rachael, 27, who is studying for an MA in social research, even moved her studies to Liverpool University so she could move in with him.
He popped the question at Christmas – presenting Rachael with a card that said “To my fiancee” along with a ring.
The pair plan to get married in September next year.
But his life is pretty tame compared to his soap characters. He joined Hollyoaks in 2006 as gay teen John Paul Mcqueen before leaving in 2009 to play mechanic Ryan Lamb for two years on Emmerdale.
James returned to Chester in 2012, and went through a groundbreaking male rape storyline – which helped them win Best Soap at the 2014 British Soap Awards.
In a dramatic week from
I came to her rescue at Glasto with my electric air bed pump
JAMES SUTTON ON HOW HE MET FIANCEE RACHAEL
March 6, viewers will see John Paul’s car go off a cliff just after boyfriend James Nightingale, played by Gregory Finnegan, proposes.
James confims he is leaving the soap but is keeping quiet whether his character survives. But he says he could not have made the decision without Rachael by his side.
“She is my rock,” he said. “When you have got that person, you feel like you can do anything. You don’t feel scared.
“For the first time ever I have this feeling that everything is going to be OK. It is a massive decision leaving the show, and I In Emmerdale, left, his car goes off cliff, above, and Hollyoaks might never work again, but everything is OK because I have got Rachael.”
James says he is especially proud of his rape storyline, a plotline that had never been approached by any other soap. He said: “There are a lot of kids getting abused, a lot of lads that you wouldn’t think. “I have had letters from all over the world. The recurring theme throughout was “I didn’t know what was going on was wrong until I saw what you guys did on Hollyoaks.” James – now an ambassador for the Survivors charity which supports male victims of rape and sexual abuse – said: “I am massively proud of being a soap actor. It might not be the most highbrow or the most glamorous, but it is so rewarding when you get those letters, it makes it worthwhile.” amanda.killelea@trinitymirror.com