Paula Wilcox stars in Channel 5’s psychological drama The Fortune which debuted last night.
Paula Wilcox is no stranger when it comes to drama on the small screen as well as in her personal life.
The Fortune premiered last night, Tuesday, June 2, on Channel 5, following Amanda (played by Eleanor Tomlinson) after discovering she would inherit £2 million and a country estate from a stranger.
Starring alongside Tomlinson is Man About the House and Coronation Street actress Paula Wilcox who plays Amanda’s mum Linda who suffers with dementia.
Wilcox has been married to American businessman Nelson “Skip” Riddle since 1991 and is the eldest son of composer and bandleader Nelson Smock Riddle who worked with artists including Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Dean Martin.
But before the 76-year-old’s marriage to Skip, Wilcox was married to actor Derek Seaton who she tied the knot with in 1970 when she was 20 and him 26-years-old.
Actor Derek Seaton had roles in Doctor Who as Commander Hilred as well as Coronation Street in 1975 as dodgy salesman Les Buckley who conned Mavis Riley (Thelma Barlow).
But tragedy unexpectedly struck in 1979 when Seaton died of a brain haemorrhage when he was just 35 and she was 29-years-old.
The loss came months after the sudden death of her friend and former The Lovers co-star Richard Beckinsale who died of a heart attack.
Previously opening up to The Telegraph, Wilcox said the “really shocking” news came just as she was able to star in Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce on stage.
“I didn’t know what to do at all. But we had to do the show. You just go through the motions,” she said.
“And then my husband died about six months later, very, very suddenly. It came out of nowhere.”
She continued: “The 1980s were strange because of all that loss. I was a little bit wobbly.
“I was working a lot – I did quite a lot of theatre, but I didn’t do much telly. I just stayed away.”
The Fortune is available to watch on Channel 5.
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