Actor Larry Lamb, known for his role in the BBC comedy "Gavin & Stacey," has revealed that he has reunited with his former partner, actress Clare Burt. The couple, who share two daughters, are now living together again after being separated for approximately seven to nine years. Their split became public in 2016.
Lamb, 78, described their current living arrangement as "pally" and "literally as friends" during an appearance on the Rosebud podcast with Gyles Brandreth. He noted that Burt is an "extraordinary woman" for putting up with him.
Lamb and Burt were together for about two decades and had two daughters before their separation. Burt's television credits include "The Bill" and "Top Boy."
Lamb, who famously played Mick Shipman in "Gavin & Stacey," has had a complex romantic history. He has been married three times and has had four other serious relationships, referring to them as "seven marriages" in total, with three official and four lasting between three and fifteen years.
His first marriage was to Anita Wisbey, which ended by the time their daughter Vanessa was born in 1969. His second wife was American nurse Jacquie Parris, and he married Scottish entrepreneur Linda Martin in 1979. Lamb and Martin divorced in 1996, and they share a son, TV presenter George.
In the past, Lamb has spoken warmly of Burt, crediting her with helping him secure the role of Mick Shipman. He recounted that after a disappointing first audition, Burt advised him to stop trying to "act" and instead play the character as himself, advice that proved successful for his second audition.
Lamb has attributed his tendency to fall in love quickly and intensely to upheaval in his childhood, specifically his mother leaving the family home when he was nine. He described a pattern of falling in love easily and eventually being the one to end relationships, often looking for fault within himself.
He has previously stated that by the time of his third marriage, he knew he did not want to marry again, feeling he was being dishonest. Last October, he described himself as a "happily single man" and an "old bachelor boy."