‘Devastated’ Suranne’s secret sadness
The Doctor Foster star has known the heights of happiness– and heartbreak
Suranne Jones is the face of BBC smash hit Doctor Foster, which is back for series two. Her character, Gemma Foster, is the epitome of the woman scorned. She wants revenge, and is feeling positively murderous!
The TV star may have found fame as bigmouth Karen McDonald in Corrie, but the critical acclaim she won for the first series of Doctor Foster in 2015, which drew in 10 million viewers, led to a career high, bagging her a best-actress BAFTA award.
That was the same year the Oldham actress married magazine editor Laurence Akers. The couple celebrated their second wedding anniversary on 4 August.
In 2016, she gave birth to their first child, now 17 months old. Entering the magical – if exhausting – world of motherhood, she looked more glamorous than ever!
On paper, she’s got it all. Yet, sadly, Suranne’s happiness is tinged with sadness. Behind her smile, the 39-year-old has been nursing a grief that must still be painfully raw.
Last Christmas, as she was settling into the maternal role herself, her beloved mum, Jenny, passed away after a long battle with breast cancer.
The dark-haired beauty is notoriously private about her personal life, but recently said, ‘Becoming a mother and then losing your mother is quite… well, [those experiences] both change you profoundly, and you have to give yourself time to understand what’s happened.’
The actress once said her mum was more of a ‘ best mate’ than anything else. The pair would go on holiday together, ‘Just doing girlie stuff. Getting in our pyjamas, getting drunk, having a giggle.’
Jenny’s illness was first diagnosed when she was 49 and Suranne just 14. The teenager took time off school to look after her.
When Jenny found a lump, Suranne said, ‘It was a huge shock... but it didn’t occur to me that I might lose her.’
She added, ‘Now I can really appreciate how brave she was. Mum’s illness brought our family closer together and made us realise what an amazing person she was.’
According to Suranne, her mum – ‘gentle and sweet but not someone you mess with’ – was her biggest fan.
As Suranne mourns her, knowing her mother had seen her reach such dizzy heights of success will perhaps be a source of comfort. l
‘Becoming a mother and then losing your mother… they both change you profoundly’