Emmerdale’s Jacob Gallagher is currently in the midst of a grooming and abuse storyline at the hands of his teacher – and dad’s girlfriend – Maya Stepney.
In real life, however, Joe-Warren Plant, who turned 17 today (April 12) has happily been dating his girlfriend, Nicole Hadlow, for about 18 months – and reports say she’s 22.
Read more: Emmerdale viewers disgusted at Maya’s latest deception
The pair often post loved-up snaps together on Instagram – including plenty of them enjoying holidays in destinations such as Mexico and Ibiza.
In August 2018 they celebrated one year together.
Joe marked the occasion with a sweet Instagram message to his lady.
He said: “1 Year Today. I look forward to making even more memories with you right by my side. I love you.”
View this post on Instagram1 Year Today. I look forward to making even more memories with you right by my side🌍 I love you❤️
Ent Daily has contacted Joe’s rep for comment.
Joe also sparked massive envy last month when he revealed he had bought his dream car, a 1967 Ford Mustang V8 Coupe, despite being too young to drive.
He wrote: “So…….I bought my DREAM car at the age of 16! I never thought I would ever get this lucky.
“Just wanted to say Thank you to all who played a role in the process: My Family. My friends. And most of all, the fans!
“I love every single one of you and appreciate the continuous support you have given me over the past nine years at Emmerdale!
“Thank you for this opportunity, it really means a lot to me.”
Despite being too young to drive, Joe has been praised by his co-star previously about how “mature” he is for his age – especially given he is undertaking such an huge storyline on Emmerdale and filming such “awkward” scenes.
Talking to TV Times, Louisa Clein, who plays Maya, revealed: “It’s awkward, of course. But Joe-Warren is a joy to work with and so mature for his age, and everyone is very conscious of not making our scenes titillating.”
Children’s charity Barnardo’s have been closely involved with the storyline, and the producers and cast have always insisted the scenes are supposed to be uncomfortable to watch…
Louisa explained: “From the research we’ve done and the input from Barnardo’s, women who do this are emotionally immature and needy. It’s not that they fancy little boys; it’s about control.
“Often they’ve had some kind of abuse as a child themselves, and their emotional maturity has been stunted at the age that happened. So what Maya wants is reassurance, adoration and utter devotion; a relationship where she is totally unchallenged.”
Some fans have called for the storyline to end, and it looks like things are about to come crashing down.
Thursday night’s (April 11) outing to the Dales saw Jacob and Maya caught out by Liv.
Jacob had earlier dumped Maya, fed up that they couldn’t go public with their ‘relationship’. But she’d manipulated him back on side after promising they’d both dump their respective other halves once he’d done his GCSEs and they could be together properly.
Read more: Emmerdale star sacked for past offensive tweets
A heartbroken Liv caught them in Jacob’s bedroom together, and threatened to tell everyone.
Maya attempted to turn the situation back to her advantage and started the rumour Liv was drinking again to discredit her, but Liv ended up turning the tables again and demanded £5000 for her silence. Will Maya pay up?
Do you think Liv should expose Jacob and Maya? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!