Oliver Farnworth, Samantha Womack’s lover in EastEnders, tells The Mirror how his new Emmerdale job came about because he and her ex-husband Mark Womack were closest friends.
Oliver Farnworth, a soap actor, is quite appreciative of his current happy family arrangement, which must definitely be the pinnacle of being best friends with your partner’s ex-husband.
The 41-year-old former Corrie star currently resides in Spain with Samantha Womack, but she is traveling to the Dales at her ex-partner’s recommendation, Mark Womack. Given that Sam, who played Ronnie Mitchell on EastEnders, and Mark, who played the shady detective Mark Malone on Emmerdale, had two grown children and were just separated in 2018, this large, happy family contrasts with the drama that a situation like this would cause on a soap opera.
But it works for Mark, sixty-three, Sam, fifty-one, and Oliver. Oliver gets along well with the couple’s kids, Lily, 19, and Benjamin, 23. Oliver will be joining Emmerdale on Thursday in the role of the mysterious and brooding John Sugden.
In 2019, Oliver, who had broken up with Mark the previous year, started dating Sam. “Mark is a good friend,” Oliver says. “Actually, we just had a conversation yesterday. Mark informed me that the role in Emmerdale was an excellent opportunity when I received the offer. He was gushing over the location.”
In 2020, Mark was a popular cast member and caused chaos in the Dales. Oliver, on the other hand, makes his screen debut as the late Jack Sugden’s (Clive Hornby) son, the product of a 1980s romance with John’s mother Barbara.
“I remember [Mark] saying when he was filming, that it’s such a gorgeous place to work – it’s really, really brilliant,” Oliver recalls. “So I was thrilled when this opportunity arose. And it’s fantastic. “I told you so,” he remarked to me, and I said, “You did.” Oliver was famously kidnapped and then killed by Weatherfield serial murderer Pat Phelan while portraying Andy Carver in Coronation Street from 2014 to 2017.
But he might never have met Sam if his character had not met an unfortunate end. The play The Girl on the Train, which started touring in 2019, starred the two of them together. They discovered later that their friendship had developed into love. When Sam was given a breast cancer diagnosis in August 2022, the two became even closer.
Oliver remembers: “It sort of changes your outlook and makes you possibly appreciate what you’ve got a bit more and maybe live your life a bit more as well.” She is no longer afflicted with the illness. Oliver can’t even begin to conceive what might have occurred if Sam hadn’t gone in for her annual checkup.
He says, “That really saved us.” Oliver was even more in awe of Sam because of the way she handled her situation.
“She wanted to get through everything and get back on stage as quickly as possible,” he continues. “She is a true warrior who will not allow anything to stand in her way. However, she was simply so generous, bold, and articulate in her speech about her experiences.”
Les Dennis, Oliver’s former co-star on Corrie, arranged for the pair to have their brief meeting. Les had recently quit from the ITV soap opera, having fallen for Michael Rodwell, Pat Phelan’s first victim. He was costarring with Sam in a theater version of The Addams Family, and he had asked Oliver to see him.
“I was meant to see it, but I was on a night shoot,” Oliver relates. However, Sam was also in the theater when I went by to say hello to him. I only said, “Hello, nice to meet you.”
“On The Girl on the Train, we really got to meet. Although the play was only supposed to run for six months, it ended up running for an additional six. We really spent almost the entire year working together, and we become close friends. And after that, we simply kept in touch.”
From the adorable pictures Sam has made on social media, it is obvious that the pair has a wonderful connection. Oliver is similarly enamored, especially with his partner’s acting prowess. “Sam was absolutely brilliant in The Girl on the Train,” according to him. “She spent the entire two hours on stage. It was a really impressive show.”
Oliver was reared in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and his dream job was acting. His younger sister Cordelia Farnworth is a theater star, so it seems that acting runs in the family. He received his training at the esteemed Bristol Old Vic.
In addition to his success on television, he has starred in a number of theatrical musicals, such as 42nd Street, where he reunited with Les and collaborated with Sam once again. He’d had a small relationship test with Sam on that assignment.
“We shared a dressing room, that was interesting!” quips he. “Oh no, where are my belongings? Where is my towel? No, it was excellent 99.9% of the time. Doing it was extremely awesome. And it was lovely to see Les again.”
This Thursday, August 8, Oliver makes his Emmerdale debut as Jihn Sudgen. The once-iconic Sugden family is now much outnumbered in the hamlet, with just two cast members bearing the name: Victoria (Isabel Hodgins) and Sarah (Katie Hill).
Watchers will witness Victoria take Chris Chittell’s character Eric Pollard to an old friend of John’s mother’s burial. She is ecstatic at the possibility of adding a new family member. John simply shows no interest at all from the start. He simply wants to get out of the village and is quite alone. However, it’s obvious that John will remain.
After seven weeks of filming, Oliver is residing in a hotel in Leeds until he receives permission to return to Valencia. He’s not moaning, though.
“The village where we film is gorgeous and the Woolpack feels like you’re in a real countryside pub, except the beer isn’t real,” he says. Still, he’s eager for a vacation and to return to Sam’s house in Spain.
Oliver remarks: “We have all five of our dogs and a cat there, and there’s a whole different pace to things. We also have views of the mountains.” As you can see, we get along pretty well and have a lot of similar interests. We want to keep things relaxed while we’re not working.
“We love the outdoors, we love our animals.” When they can, Lily and Ben, Sam’s children, come visit. And their favorite thing to do is prepare meals in Oliver and Sam’s paella kitchen.
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