Who is The Split's Donna Air? All you need to know

In February, hit BBC drama The Split returned to TV for a second season. The show follows a family of lawyers and their professional and personal lives, and one of season two's most prominent cast additions was Donna Air, who joined the show as celebrity presenter Fi Hansen. On-screen, Fi is known for her explosive relationship with husband and musician Richie Hanson, but how much do you know about Donna off-screen? We investigated…

WATCH: Donna Air talks about joining season two of The Split

Who is Donna Air?

Donna Air is an actress from Newcastle. Born in August 1979, the star has been acting since she was just a little girl, and landed her first television role during the early 90s. Donna has a 13-year-old daughter named Freya, and occasionally shares sweet photos of her on Instagram. When it comes to her private life, Donna keeps notoriously schtum, explaining: "I'm insanely private, but that's the dream about acting - you can put all these bits of yourself, which you wouldn't normally like to share, into a character." 

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© Photo: Getty Images

What else has Donna Air been in?

Donna's screen career is varied. Perhaps best known for her breakout role as Charlie Charlton in Geordie favourite Byker Grove, the star also hosted MTV Select, and even went on to front The Big Breakfast. Impressively, Donna also has a string of small movie roles to her name, and has appeared in some of telly's biggest reality shows, including Dancing on Ice, Splash! and even Celebrity MasterChef.

Donna Air and Damian Aspinall

Back in 2000, Donna famously started a relationship with conservationist Damian Aspinall, and the two welcomed daughter Freya Air Aspinall in 2003. The couple went their separate ways in 2007, however, are remembered for controversially announcing that they would be happy letting their young daughter enter the gorilla enclosure with dad Damian. At the time, he explained: "I'll probably give her to the dominant female who will take her off and introduce her to the others. Why would I not trust them, I grew up with them, they are my friends."

© Photo: Getty Images

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Donna Air and James Middleton

Donna and James Middleton first met in 2013 at private members club 5 Hertford Street. Over the next four years, the pair enjoyed an on-again-off-again relationship, and were often photographed at events together. However, in 2017 Donna said at Christmas that "James and I are no longer an item". She added: "We parted ways in December but remain the very best of friends and always will be."

In February 2018, James was spotted cheering Donna on from the audience when she appeared as a celebrity contestant on Dancing on Ice, proving that they really have remained good friends. 

© Photo: Getty Images

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