Inside DI Ray star Gemma Whelan's life from health struggles to dying dad's unexpected request

DI Ray fans are ecstatic to see it make a comeback for season two and are keen to know all there is to know about actress Gemma Whelan.

DI Ray season two debuted on Sunday, October 20, on with episodes two and three also airing this week, while the remaining three instalments are to come out next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night.

Among the cast welcomed back is actress Gemma Whelan who is behind DI Rachita Ray’s (Parminder Nagra) right-hand woman, DCI Kerry Henderson.

With DI Ray now underway, here’s all there is to know about the 43-year-old’s life off-screen.

Health struggles

Born in Leeds and raised in the Midlands, Whelan’s family also had a love of the theatre growing up, as her parents met doing amateur dramatics and her brother performed in plays.

She attended The King’s High School for Girls in Warwick and the London Studio Centre but struggled as a teenager with anorexia and had to be hospitalised as a result.

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Whelan previously told The Times that her experience with the illness had helped to “shape” her approach to life.

She explained: "It's part of my life. If it can help one or two people maybe feel it’s not hopeless and you can get better, then yeah, I’ll share it.

“I am not so private I wouldn’t talk about that. Because it really shaped me.

“It formed so much of my life and the way I live my life and my personality and my approach to things."

Career success

Whelan studied performing arts at Middlesex University, initially starting off as a comedian, performing as the character Chastity Butterworth.

It was during this early stage in her career that she was crowned as the winner of a 2010 Funny Women Variety Award.

Over the years, the star delved further into the of acting and has since had major roles in hit shows like The Tower, Game Of Thrones, The End Of The F*****g World and Gentleman Jack, just to name a few.

Famous husband

The DI Ray star is married to former actor and comedian Gerry Howell who viewers will recognise for appearing on the 2006 reality show The Play’s The Thing.

He also went on to win the Best Individual Comedy Show award at the Buxton Fringe Festival in 2010 for his one-man comedy-drama The Fantastic Reality of Frederick Goodge.

Him and Whelan tied the knot in 2017 when she was five months pregnant and now reside in London with their daughter Frances and son Freddie. It is reported that Howell has since left the world of showbusiness and works as a psychotherapist.

Dad’s dying wish

Prior to having their first born, Whelan and her husband were unsure about having children and in an interview with You Magazine last year, she said that her dad “begged” her not to before he died.

She commented: "He said: 'Will you promise me not to have children?'

“But only because of the state of the world that I would be bringing them into. I mean.

“The world he left behind was peachy compared to now. Seven years ago, hadn't been finalised, there was still a bit of hope and decent weather; a relative utopia.

“But I fully agreed with him. Then he passed away and the urge to make my own children was so strong. And just over a year later, Frances arrived."

DI Ray season two is available to watch on ITV and ITVX.