LINE of Duty star Vicky McClure fell for her fella Jonny Owen on the blower – and they moved in together after a WEEK.

And zany Jonny popped the question on Christmas morning with a sparkler hidden in the teabags.

But their hectic work schedule and the pandemic has now seen the lovers twice postpone their big day.

Former Shameless star Jonny, 49, and Vicky met in 2013 when the director and screenwriter cast her in his rock comedy film Svengali alongside Boy George, Martin Freeman and Maxine Peake.

While casting for Svengali that he heard Vicky, 37, talking about her role as Lol in This Is England on Radio 1, and he was instantly hooked.

“I thought she was very funny. I loved Lol but this person I was hearing was a much bigger personality. She was funnier, more entertaining and sexier," he told the Nottingham Post.

"I went home to Wales and dreamt about her playing Michelle in Svengali. She was the hottest actress in Britain and I didn’t believe she’d do it."

Their first conversation was over the phone, and for Vicky, the connection was instant.

“I came off the phone and I just knew," she told Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast in 2019.

She quickly googled Jonny and found he was married but 'in the middle of a divorce'.

She continued: "It was tricky. I thought 'I am scared now, I genuinely feel something I've never felt before. He's a proper man. He's a grownup’.

"We got to talking about love. And just the way he was describing it: I was like, 'Oh My God. He's the man for me.'"

After meeting in person for a chat over a sausage buttie, Vicky signed up for the film, and within a week, she and Jonny were an item.

"We literally lived together from a week of meeting. We have basically stayed together from that time until now. We've never lived apart. I am not sure about fate but I couldn't see my life without him," she said.

"When you finally meet someone who gets you, lets you fly, loves you for who you are and you can have that genuine laughter, it's amazing.

“I've never loved anyone more than I've loved Jonny. It sounds cheesy but I love him more and more every day. Things get better and better. Seven years with someone – I feel really lucky. I've had relationships where I didn't have that."

It was during a break from filming that things turned serious. To begin with, Vicky moved into Jonny's London flat, but soon after they relocated to her native Nottingham to be closer to her family.

He told Wales Online : “I remember we were walking down Southbank [in London] on a weekend break from filming and we were going to the Tate Modern and she turned to me and asked me if I fancied going to the pub instead. And I was like, well, yeah!

“I thought, ‘What a girl’. I think we almost simultaneously both went, ‘I fancy you’! It just tumbled from there and we haven’t been apart since that moment.

“I was going through a divorce at the time and I’d been separated for seven or eight months. I was single, she was single and I was living in London. So when we finished filming she moved down to London with me."

It was on Christmas Day morning 2017 that Jonny popped the question. Knowing that Vicky would made the first cup of tea of the day, he hid an engagement ring among the bags for her to find – and she said 'yes'.

By 8:30am, Vicky said they'd cracked the bubbles out and the pair confirmed their exciting news with a cute selfie taken in Nottingham's Woolton Park.

Sadly though, their plans to get hitched keep getting pushed back. First in 2019 due to her hectic work schedule, then in 2020 when coronavirus hit.

And the actress says she can't wait for their big day to finally come, although they've yet to book a venue.

She told The Sunday Times' Style magazine : "I’d dreamt about getting married since I was a kid. I love the concept of marriage, I love the concept of a wedding, I’m a sucker for love. So I’m desperate for it to happen."

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