Kris Marshall appeared on the This Morning sofa on Tuesday to tease all things Beyond Paradise as it will be back on our screens for a Christmas special. The 52-year-old actor and his co-star, Sally Bretton, appeared to let slip about their characters' wedding plans in the upcoming episode.
While we wait to see if wedding bells will finally chime for Detective Humphrey Goodman and Martha Lloyd, we thought we'd look into Kris' real life with his off-screen wife, Hannah Dodkin, and their two children, Thomas and Elsie – here's what we know about their rarely seen home in Bath, where he has said he can simply be a dad.
© BBC / Red Planet Pictures / Joss BarrattSpeaking about his home life to The Mirror, Kris explained: "I like to go back home and put the bins out. Be a dad again, put my kids on the bus and pick them up from school." He also admitted that months of filming were tough – adding: "It's joyous to finish after five months."
He also told HELLO!'s Francesca Shillcock about how living in Bath and filming in Cornwall impacts how much time he can spend with his children. "Now my kids are at an age where they have their own lives and so they don't want to be moved wherever I'm filming. They want to stick with their mates and so I still have that thing where I live away from home during the week, but it's closer to home [than Guadeloupe]."
Inside Kris Marshall's chic Bath home
© Photo: RexKris does not have an Instagram account, so mirror selfies and family snaps from inside his house are not shared publicly. However, in 2020, he did give an interview on Good Morning Britain, which gave fans a glimpse inside his private abode.
The interiors are simplistic and chic with magnolia walls, white doors and a quirky black-and-white artwork hanging on the wall. Behind Kris, a corner of a dresser or desk could be seen, and its traditional wooden finish proves that the décor inside the residence is more on the classic than modern side.
As Homes Editor, I've written about hundreds of celebrity and royal abodes and this is a very typical video call set up of someone who doesn't want to give too much away about his own property. It's a move we often see the likes of Prince William and Princess Kate pull, filming near a wall and not leaving their bookshelves or personal items on display in a wider shot. The only thing we can tell about Kris' home here is perhaps that it is on the traditional side and he perhaps likes art!
© Getty ImagesBath is well known for its historical buildings. There are over 5,000 Grade I, II*, and II listed buildings in Bath on the National Heritage List for England, according to the Bath Preservation Trust website.
In an interview with the i newspaper, Kris revealed his children aren't interested in his job, but they are partial to a bit of Beyond Paradise: "My kids... have never shown any interest in my career as an actor, but they will watch this with me. They'll love it."
Kris used to film on the island of Guadeloupe for Death in Paradise and then moved to filming in Looe, Cornwall in the UK for Beyond Paradise. The latter is an extra special location for Kris, as he once owned a Cornish property himself. However, during his time abroad, he was forced to give up his home. It was a Grade II listed converted chapel called Kirk House, and in an interview with The Times, Kris confessed his Cornwall home became "impractical" to rent out when he resided in the Caribbean.
© Dan Goldsmith/TV Times/Future Publishing via Getty Images"I ended up running it as a full-time holiday let for 10 years. It’s been brilliant," he explained to the publication. "The house had been converted into a wow-factor holiday let when I bought it, but I've done a lot of work."
On his decision to relinquish the property, he said: "I still love Cornwall, especially when the sun is out, but there's give and take when you do holiday lets. We can’t just bolt down there as a family, and I don’t want to run the business anymore. I’m quite busy and it's impractical to do it from the Caribbean — it's just too far."
Our TV team are big fans of both shows and when we visited the Cornish set in 2023, Kris revealed the major differences between the spin-off and the original series.
"With Death in Paradise, the clue is in the title. We do have death in Beyond Paradise but we don't have murders because it needed to be a completely new show, otherwise it would be really lazy to just do a show where you plonk it in Devon and Cornwall."
Leaving Death in Paradise
© BBCKris' decision to depart Death in Paradise shocked the loyal fan base and in an interview with Radio Times, the star spoke about his choice. "When I was first offered the job, my son was six months old and my wife wasn't working, so it was a very easy decision. We decided I would do Death in Paradise for a few years until it became impractical."
At the time, Kris found himself in hot water over his comments about his son becoming "a bit too Caribbean" after spending three years on the island of Guadeloupe. He has since apologised for his "naive use of words" and instead chose to speak about his "four wonderful years" on the island.
