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Did you spot James Middleton's ex-girlfriend Donna Air in The Split?

The former Dancing on Ice star has been cast in The Split series two


the split donna air
Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
February 12, 2020
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After a hugely popular first series focusing on the dramatic lives of a family of lawyers and their firm, The Split, starring Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan, has returned for its second run. As well as a brand new season, the BBC drama welcomed new faces to the show and one of those was actress and ex-girlfriend of James Middleton, Donna Air.

WATCH: Donna Air on joining BBC's The Split 

The Geordie beauty plays Fiona 'Fi' Hanson, a celebrity who hires lawyer Hannah Stern (played by Nicola Walker) to help her leave her controlling husband. Donna, who dated James Middleton for five years on and off before they called it quits in 2018, made her debut in the first episode which aired on Tuesday night.

MORE: The Split Season 2: Meet the cast of the BBC legal drama

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Donna Air stars in series two of BBC's The Split

Donna, who has one daughter from her previous relationship to businessman and animal conservationist Damian Aspinall, appeared on Tuesday's This Morning to discuss her stint on the show, which marks her return to acting after a few years off. The Hotel Babylon actress told Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby: "Do you know what, as women and all of us that have families and work, we have to sometimes keep reinventing our stuff and be very adaptable and come up with things that work around our families."

MORE: Rio Ferdinand opens up about the moment he introduced Kate Wright to the kids for the first time

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Donna plays Fi, a celebrity seeking a divorce from her husband

She continued: "And yes I've always loved acting it's very much my first passion, but I think being a single mum I couldn't always go off and do a roll in the desert for seven months, or go off to America, so I chose to do other work and other projects so I could be at home with her and I think that's really paid off now." And after taking a break from acting, the 40-year-old was clearly excited to join the new series. She told Holly and Phil: "Oh [The Split is] brilliant, who doesn't love to watch [a show] about relationships? It's a great show with some of my favourite actors."

And it seems viewers are just as impressed with the new series. One person tweeted: "So good to have #TheSplit back." While another wrote: "Oh, I loved #TheSplit. So good to see it back. The Houses! The outfits! The music! The offices! Nicola Walker on top form. Can't wait for more."

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