Home & Away icon enjoyed fling with ITV soap hunk before 'final straw' caused split

 Emily Symons shot to fame on Aussie show Home and Away but the actress once dated a soap hunk from an ITV soap - until the pair called it quits for a heartbreaking reason.

Home and Away legend Emily Symons once enjoyed a fling with soap actor from across the pond.

The actress famously played iconic Marilyn Chambers-Fisher on the Aussie soap - making her debut in 1989. As the beloved and ditzy sexy hairdresser, Marilyn has gone on to become one of the most popular characters of all time.

And it’s fair to say she had her fair share of hard-hitting storylines. From post-natal depression to her cancer battle, her time in Summer Bay was not short of drama.

But away from the showbiz world, Emily has received a lot of attention for her dramatic love life too. And she even had a fling with an ITV soap star.

Known as one of Australia’s brightest soap stars but Emily has also made her mark here on UK TV screens. The gorgeous actress spent over half a decade behind the bar of the Woolpack on ITV’s Emmerdale as Louise Appleton.

Between 2001 and 2008, she played the blonde bombshell. But it wasn’t just the job that kept the star in the UK. Emily soon fell for one of her co-stars when she began dating Matt Healy, who played Matthew King.

The pair met on the Emmerdale set, where Emily's character Louise Appleton was Matt's onscreen lover. They lit up the ITV show with a series of steamy scenes when his Casanova character Matthew King bedded barmaid Louise.

Emily and Matt even sizzled during an on-screen appearance together away from the dales. The couple performed a duet on a Celebrity Special of ITV series Stars In Their Eyes.

However, the pair called time on their relationship after 15 months together. The stress of work and Emily’ training for Dancing On Ice was said to a part of their break up.

A pal revealed to the Mirror: "They have hardly seen each other in recent months as they have both been so busy. And with Emily racing between the Emmerdale set in Leeds and Dancing On Ice training down in London, it was the final straw.”

The source added: “Emily is distraught by it and is struggling to hold it together. But she is a strong person and has been determined to battle on through her heartache and do her best in the show.

Emily also confirmed that she and Matt had split, with the star commenting to The Sunday People: "We are no longer in a relationship but remain friends.