New Emmerdale detective DI Roberts is getting stuck into the investigation surrounding Anthony Fox’s disappearance, but away from the Dales actress Isobel Middleton is mingling with the Coronation Street cast.
That’s because she is married to a legend of the Manchester-based ITV soap.
DI Roberts first appeared on our screens in February 2025, when Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) was taken in for questioning over Anthony’s disappearance.
Viewers will know that Anthony was killed by daughter Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly), after his sexual abuse of her was revealed.
Several villagers were in on the secret and vowed to keep it hidden, but when Caleb Miligan (William Ash) learnt that Cain and Ruby had slept together, he sought revenge and planned to frame Cain.
The actress also appeared in last night’s episode when DI Roberts informed Caleb and Ruby of a break-in at the depot.
DI Roberts isn’t Isobel’s first Emmerdale role, as she previously appeared in the soap as Dr Lane in 2014, a prosecution barrister in 2018 and a woman called Jean in 2020.
She has also had roles in EastEnders, Coronation Street and Doctors, and more recently appeared in Mr Bates vs. the Post Office.
Which Corrie cast member is Isobel married to?
Isobel is married to cobbles icon Jane Hazlegrove, who has played Bernie Winter since 2019, and the couple have been together for almost 30 years.
The pair tied the knot in 2015, while Jane was working on Casualty, playing the role of Kathleen ‘Dixie’ Dixon, after having had a civil partnership in 2010.
Jane previously revealed to Metro that she wasn’t interested in formalising their relationship until an unexpected turn of events changed her mind.
‘I said: “why are we doing it because we’re suddenly allowed to do it?” The reason we did it was because Isobel hadn’t been well. I was away working on Casualty and it became very clear that I wasn’t really allowed to know anything about how she was, because we weren’t related, even though we’d lived together for 15 years.
‘It made me quite cross that I had no say in what happened to her. It all worked out fine, thankfully, but the morning after the civil partnership I remember us saying over breakfast: “No-one can touch us now.”
‘It was a really brilliant thing that we did and I’m just so thrilled that I’m allowed to live the life that I am now with the woman that I want to live with.’
Pride and solidarity
Both Isobel and Jane are hugely influential figures among the LGBTQ+ community, with Jane having been listed on the World Pride Power List as one of 2012’s 100 Most Influential LGBT People
Meanwhile, Isobel made history when she joined the cast of radio soap The Archers as the show’s first lesbian character, domestic violence barrister Anna Tregorran, in 2016.
Writing for Metro about the importance of Pride, Jane recalled her first pride parade before coming out to her friends and family in the 90s, and how she had tried to hide so that no one she knew would see her.
‘Cut to Manchester Pride 2019, and I’m taking a selfie on the top of the Coronation Street float, shoulder to shoulder with my work colleagues, my wife of many years beside me, waving to the crowds lining Princess Street,’ she continued.
‘Somewhere among them may have been a shy young woman uncertain about her sexuality, hoping that no-one she knew saw her there, but I like to think that times have changed, and mostly for the better.
