Jason Manford's life with TV wife and kids after first marriage 'disintegrated' (2025)

The Salford native will debut in a new role on BBC’s Waterloo Road this week

Jason Manford is perhaps best known for his work as a comedian – but he’s done it all.

He’s a familiar sight on our screens as host and judge on countless TV shows including The One Show, Have I Got News for You, 8 out of 10 Cats and ITV’s Starstruck. He’s also starred in a host of West End musicals and pantomimes touring up and down the country.

The Salford native is now returning to the small screen in the new series of Waterloo Road, airing at 9pm today (Tuesday, September 10) on BBC One. It's his first time playing anyone other than himself on television for more than three years.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the new Waterloo Road stars ahead of its return

Manford will play the school’s new headteacher Steve Savage, who has taken the reins after the school converted to an academy in the previous series. His character has been described as a 'charismatic charmer who impresses everyone he meets', but who 'isn’t scared of crossing a line and being ruthless when it comes to protecting his career'.

It’s presumably a bit of a departure from the norm for Manford, who we're accustomed to seeing in more light-hearted roles, but he appeared to relish it. “It was a really interesting character to play because he’s quite a complex man,” he said.

Touching on his own time at school - he attended what is now Chorlton High School - he said: “I was one of those ‘in the middle kids’. I wasn’t dead bad, but wasn’t dead good either. I had two teachers who were like good cop, bad cop duo.”

“You never wanted to get sent to one because he was terrifying. But if you got sent to the other, and disappointed him, it was worse than getting told off.”

Manford was born in Salford and grew up in Whalley Range. He did a performance degree at the University of Salford and got his first TV role on BBC Three series Ideal. He described his background – and the long road it took him to get to fame – on Twitter in 2022.

“My dad was union leader and shop steward in the NHS for decades and my mum is a nurse,” he wrote.

“I’ve worked on building sites, call centres, shops, bars, warehouses, offices etc before what I do now. I didn’t just leave school and say ‘right, I’m off to play the arena!’”

Manford married his first wife Catherine, with whom he has four children, in October 2007. He became embroiled in a sexting scandal in 2010 and quit the One Show shortly after. He later told the Guardian: “I sat on the bed thinking 'what if I can’t do my job anymore because nobody likes me?'.”

He went on to perform around the UK in three separate stand-up comedy tours, as well as presenting and appearing on a number of quizzes and game shows. But he and his wife would ultimately end up separating in 2013.

In an interview with The Mirror in 2021, Jason said he did not put enough 'care and time' into the relationship. He said: "My first marriage really disintegrated on my theory of 'I don’t want my children to have the childhood I had'.

"So I was out working all the time and I didn’t put the care and time into that relationship that it deserved and needed. It’s only now I’m starting to realise, 'oh, I’m not giving the children the childhood I had', which is good in one thing but bad in another. Because I got to spend so much time with my parents."

In 2017, Jason married Lucy Dyke in a ceremony in Manchester, with whom he now has two children. Lucy also works in TV as a producer and has worked on Black Mirror, The Split and Ripper Street as well as many more shows. Jason has spoken out about his wife's work in TV, urging fans to see shows she has worked on.

He has six children overall and still lives in Manchester with his family, enjoying the opportunity to stay at home while filming Waterloo Road in the city.

“It was great, I was back home every night and could hang out with the kids,” he said. “We filmed some scenes near my mum and dad’s house and they came down to watch.”

He was full of praise for the series in which he is about to star. “Everyone feels like a three dimensional character; nobody’s all good or bad. And that’s real life.

“I do think it reflects what a lot of big schools are like and the difficulties they face. Hopefully it can point a little mirror to [the state of] education in this country.”

The new series of Waterloo Road will air at 9pm on Tuesday, September 10 on BBC One.