The father of Samantha Dorrance, the CBeebies star dating Mr Tumble star Justin Fletcher, has spoken up about the 21-year age gap between his daughter and her boyfriend
The father of CBeebies star Samantha Dorrance has broken his silence on his daughter’s 21-year age gap with boyfriend and Mr Tumble star Justin Fletcher – who is just nine years younger than her dad.
Justin, 55, who has been starring as Mr Tumble on CBeebies since 2003, recently revealed that he is “madly in love” with his co-star Samantha, 34. The couple were spotted together over the weekend, heading to a Wolverhampton hotel for a relaxing getaway.
The two have been thought to be dating for a year after first meeting years earlier whilst working on The Tale of Mr Tumble together, where Samantha played Mr Tumble’s best friend Tootsie.
Her father, Stuart Dorrance, told the Mail that the couple are “blissfully happy”. The 64-year-old added: “They’re very happy. We’re happy. And that’s all that matters really.”
Stuart and his wife Karen raised their family – Samantha and 28-year-old son Kurt – in the West Midlands and home schooled the pair. Samantha went to the Birmingham School of Acting and got a BTEC in Popular Music from Walsall College.
In 2007, she competed in and won Disney Channel talent competition You’re The Star. She then hosted her own talent show on the same channel called My School Musical. By 19, she landed West End role as Laura in Dreamboats and Petticoats, where she stayed for two years. Samantha also toured as Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical the Musical, and Skye in a stage version of Paw Patrol.
It was 2015 when a then 23-year-old Samantha joined Justin in The Tale of Mr Tumble. The two met again when they were both cast in a CBeebies production of Cinderella and she started co-writing songs for Justin’s tour, Justin Time To Rock.
Samantha and Justin were spotted together for the first time since their romance became public knowledge over the weekend. They were snapped heading to four-star hotel The Mount Country Manor Hotel & Golf in Wolverhampton.
According to a source who also spoke to the Mail, Samantha has moved into Justin’s £2.5million home in Oxfordshire. They said that, for Justin, “Samantha is “the one'” and the farmhouse they share is their “sanctuary”.
Although they live together, Samantha refrains from posting about or mentioning him online, instead referring to her “partner”.
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