Rachel Shenton is a familiar face on our TV screens every autumn thanks to her starring role in Channel 5's feel-good period drama, All Creatures Great and Small. The 38-year-old actress, also famed for her roles in The Rumour, Hollyoaks and White Gold, plays Helen Herriot in the 1940s-set series, which follows the life of veterinary surgeon James Herriot in the Yorkshire Dales.
© Channel 5As the show returns with its seventh season, find out all you need to know about Rachel's life off-screen, including her actor husband.
© Helen WilliamsWho is Rachel Shenton's husband?
Rachel Shenton is married to actor and filmmaker Chris Overton.
Chris, 37, has appeared in various TV shows over the course of his career, including Doctors, Hollyoaks, DCI Banks, and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.
© Getty Images for HollyShortsBoth Chris and Rachel received critical acclaim for their short film, The Silent Child, which follows a six-year-old deaf girl who lives a silent life before meeting a kind social worker. While Rachel wrote and starred in the short, Chris stepped behind the camera as director. The couple won numerous awards for their film, including an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film in 2019.
During their acceptance speech, Rachel, whose father became deaf following cancer treatment, said: "Our movie is about a deaf child being born into a world of silence, it's not exaggerated or sensationalised for the movie, this is happening, millions of children all over the world live in silence and face communication barriers and access to education.
© Rachel Shenton/Instagram"Deafness is a silent disability, it is not life threatening and you cannot see it so I want to say the biggest thank you to the Academy for allowing us to put this in front of a mainstream audience."
Rachel drew on her own experiences for the film. After her father's death, the actress learned British Sign Language and in 2011, became an ambassador for the National Deaf Children's Society.
The Silent Child was made through Chris and Rachel's production company, Slick Films, which is behind a number of projects, including the short films In Too Deep, starring Stephen Wight, and Roy, starring Stephen Wight.
When did Rachel Shenton meet her husband?
Rachel and Chris first locked eyes on the set of Hollyoaks back in 2010, when the All Creatures star played Mitzeee Minniver in the Channel 4 soap and her future husband played Liam McAllister.
They went on to tie the knot eight years later following their Oscar win. Rachel told The Sun in 2018: "We got married not that long ago in amongst all the madness! It was a very private event, we wanted to keep it private, but I am so happy though. It has been a very good year, I don't know what we are going to do next year!"
© GettyWhilst chatting about the couple's future plans after winning their Academy Award, Rachel shared an insight into their home life. "I mean Chris and I are a bit boring and normal so I don't think it has changed that much day to day really, but it has certainly changed us creatively in terms of what we want to do and the meetings we've found ourselves in and doors that have been opened," she said.
Rachel and Chris's home life and baby son
The couple live in central London with their son, Orson Wilde Overton, who was born in April 2025.
Announcing the news on social media at the time, Rachel shared an adorable black-and-white photo of her newborn's tiny feet alongside the caption: "On the 09.04.2025 my dream came true….Welcome to the world Orson Wilde Overton….Our hearts are yours."
© InstagramShe continued: "The biggest thank you to the brilliant midwives and doctors at Royal Stoke maternity Unit. Orson came along earlier than expected…so we needed to stay in hospital for a while and we couldn't have wished for better care and support."
During an appearance on Alan Titchmarsh's ITV programme, Love Your Weekend, in October last year, Rachel offered a sweet update on her little boy. "He's five months old, beautiful," shared the star.
