INSIDE THE FEUD STAR JILL HALFPENNY'S LIFE FROM EASTENDERS ROLE TO STRICTLY GIG

Channel 5 drama The Feud has landed on Netflix after airing on British screeners earlier this year and drawing in viewers.

The six-part show follows a neighbourhood torn apart after one family’s plans to build an extension on their property.

However, it’s far more than just a home improvement that goes awry as secrets, death and other unsavoury facts come to light.

The Feud is led by former soap star Jill Halfpenny, along with Whitechapel’s Rupert Penry-Jones, EastEnders legend Larry Lamb, James Fleet from Bridgerton and Outlander, Grantchester actress Tessa Peake-Jones, Amy Nuttall of Downton Abbey fame, Coronation Street ’s Chris Gascoyne, Derry Girls actress Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, Ray Fearon from Fantastic Beasts, and Megan Trower.

Many viewers are curious about leading lady Halfpenny and her life away from the cameras, here’s everything you need to know including, her candid comments on grief and a double tragic loss, her previous roles, and waltzing her way onto Strictly Come Dancing.

READ MORE: Today's TV with Sara Wallis: Jill Halfpenny has trouble with the neighbours in Channel 5's The Feud

READ MORE: Jill Halfpenny reveals secret battle with booze after devastating death of her father

Inside Jill Halfpenny’s heartbreaking ‘double loss’

Halfpenny has opened up about being struck by tragedy following the death of her longtime partner Matt Janes aged 43 in 2017, who suffered a fatal heart attack while at the gym.

The star also lost her father Colin Halfpenny after her died from a heart attack when she was just four-years-old.

The actress admitted she didn’t address it at the time but instead kept busy, including doing dancing to deal with the grief.

Halfpenny told The Guardian earlier this year: “Without knowing, I was learning a lesson: ballet is often painful, but if you stay with the pain it gets a lot easier. It took me decades to realise the same method applies to dealing with grief.”

She previously told Line of Duty star Craig Parkinson on the Two Show Podcast in 2019 that the deaths of both Janes and her father was a “double loss” for her.

Halfpenny explained: "My grief at losing Matt, my partner, was so brutal and so shocking but then what happened was it brought out all of the grief from my dad as well.

"It was like dealing with a double loss – a loss I'd never actually dealt with. I just found myself thinking, 'Oh my god, this is unbearable. What am I going to do? I cannot cope. I just want cessation, this feeling to stop'."

However, she is now happy in a relationship with marketing executive Ian McAllister after the couple met in 2023.

The star was previously married to fellow actor Craig Conway for three years between 2007 and 2010, with the couple sharing son Harvey.

She also had a fleeting romance with her Byker Grove co-star Ant McPartlin.

Along with discussing her grief, Halfpenny also spoke in her memoir A Life Reimagined about using alcohol to deal with the pain of grief as well as her road to sobriety.

In the book, she wrote: "For a long time, alcohol had helped me escape, to stop thinking. Conversely, I thought it also helped me access all the things that lay dormant inside me."

Addressing attending an AA meeting, Halfpenny wrote: "I felt a mix of shame and desperation as I approached the door but I took a seat at the back and attempted to take it all in."

However, AA helped her immensely as she went on to say: "They were talking about how their insides didn't match their outsides, how they struggled with feelings of unworthiness and for the first time in my life, I felt completely seen."

Inside Jill Halfpenny’s EastEnders role

Hailing from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, Halfpenny first found fame on the BBC children’s series Byker Grove.

She would later go on to appear in ITV ’s Coronation Street as Rebecca Hopkins between 1999 and 2000.

However, her stint in BBC soap EastEnders as Kate Mitchell really put her in the spotlight.

She was part of EastEnders between 2002 and 2005, before she left to pursue other projects including In the Club, Humans, Three Girls, Liar, and Dark Money, among many other projects. She’s more recently starred in TV series Daddy Issues.

Inside Jill Halfpenny’s Strictly Come Dancing stint

Halfpenny decided to show off her impressive footwork when she joined the line-up of Strictly Come Dancing back in 2004.

She was partnered with professional Darren Bennet on the second series of the hit BBC show and walked away with the Glitterball Trophy after impressing the judges and winning the hearts of the nation.

Along with lifting the trophy, Halfpenny later returned to the series for the Christmas special in 2008.

The Feud is streaming on Netflix now

2025-11-10T10:43:34Z