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Open in new tab Call The Midwife stars Helen George and Jack Ashton have fallen for each other off screen after entertaining TV millions with their romance on screen.
The pair grew close while filming the BBC1 drama on location in South Africa.
Sources said the actors have been enjoying dates together and booked into an exclusive safari lodge under pseudonyms.
Helen, 31, who plays nurse Trixie Franklin on the show, booked a romantic trip to Moditlo Lodge with the drama’s handsome vicar. Staff at the picturesque wildlife reserve revealed the pair looked “very much in love”.
A manager at the resort, where the couple shared a luxury suite, said: “They were here together and seemed very close. They spent quite a lot of time by the pool just chilling, doing nothing and being together.”
The pair also enjoyed a visit to an animal rehabilitation centre. The manager added: “She is very involved in caring about game and wildlife and does a lot of work in secret helping animals.
“They really wanted to see where the animals are rehabilitated and they saw what we do to help animals that need rehabilitation.
She cares about conservation and they told me how much they enjoyed it.”
Another staff member added: “Helen and Jack saw cheetahs on their first drive. They were very excited. Helen said it was the most wonderful experience of her life.
“On the second day we saw lions eating a bushbuck, elephants, leopard three days in a row – Helen kept saying how
excited she was.”
Helen, a big hit on the last series of Strictly Come Dancing, last week posted pictures from her visit to the nature reserve on her Instagram profile.
She has been gushing about her trip to South Africa, where cast members are shooting this year’s Christmas special.
Call The Midwife has been a massive hit for the BBC, pulling in close to 10 million viewers.
This is the first time the show’s characters have left their native East London as they head to Africa to aid an understaffed and poverty-stricken Christian mission.
On screen, nurse Trixie and Jack’s character, the Reverend Tom Hereward, were in a relationship and got engaged. But they split in the last series.
The real-life romance comes after Helen separated from her husband last year, before she appeared on Strictly.
Helen had been married to fellow actor Oliver Boot for two-and-a-half years.
But an aide confirmed in a statement last September that the marriage had ended, saying: “I can confirm that Helen separated from her husband some time ago.”
A spokesman for the pair declined to comment on their relationship.