They were passionate lovers and eternal soul mates as Heathcliff and Cathy in the ITV adaptation of Wuthering Heights – and now actors Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley are to marry in real life.
The couple, who have been dating for a year, are engaged and have told friends they are already busy planning their wedding.
Charlotte, 28, flashed her stunning vintage diamond ring as she and Tom stepped out on the red carpet, right, for the premiere of his new movie Inception in Central London on Thursday night.
Now friends of the couple say they hope to wed next year.
Charlotte and Tom, 32, fell for one another on the set of ITV’s adaptation of Emily Bronte’s famous love story in 2009, but they kept their romance under wraps.
At the time Tom, who also starred in Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla and Black Hawk Down, was in a relationship with actress Rachael Speed, the mother of his son Louis.
Charlotte denied the reports of a romance saying: ‘I share a flat in West London with three other girls. There is no man in my life.’
But according to a source the couple fell in love after their first take. ‘As soon as they did their first scene they realised that they were attracted to one another and things just developed.
‘They had to keep their courtship very under the radar and they are so relieved now that they can just be open about their romance.
‘Tom and Charlotte are so happy together and they just announced recently that they are getting engaged. They are perfectly matched and deeply in love with one another.’
Although Charlotte did initially deny she was dating Tom, she conceded in an interview: ‘We had a lot of chemistry even though we didn’t have the same taste in music . . . We had a good shorthand between us and knew what we were doing.’ The daughter of an engineer and a nurse, Charlotte was raised in County Durham.
A friend says: ‘She’s a lovely charming girl and quite a home body. She will probably want to marry close to her family home.’
