The Split's Nicola Walker reveals devastating reason why she delayed having children

Nicola Walker - who stars as Hannah Stern on the BBC's the Split - recently opened up about having 'put things off' like getting married and becoming a parent for some time

The Split's Nicola Walker has revealed the heartbreaking reason why delayed becoming a mum.

Nicola, 54 - who plays Hannah Stern on the BBC show - has been in a long-term relationship with fellow actor Barnaby Kay, 55. The couple welcomed their son Harry, now 18, back in 2006 and decided to get married later that same year. She's however revealed that she "put things off" in the years prior, following the death of her mother, who had multiple sclerosis (MS), more than two decades ago.

The Olivier Award shared that she was aged 29 when her mother died. Nicola said that in hindsight she now realises that she had "quite a long time" with her, compared to other people who lost a parent when they were younger. Nicola - who has starred in other shows like Unforgotten and Annika in recent years - added that although she had "grown-up" by then, losing her mother made her feel "like a child". She then went on to discuss the impact of the loss.

She told the The Times that it took her a "long time" to "recover" from her late mother "not being there". Nicola said: "And I put things off because she wasn't there." She gave examples in the interview such as delaying having got married.

After warning that the conversation was becoming "a bit bleak," she shared: "I don't mean to be morbid, but I put off having a child and the marriage thing because I'd just think, 'I'd like my mum to be here. I'm doing things and I feel she would have been here and been such a big part of it'." Further explaining how she felt, Nicola said that she was concerned that she would be "betraying" her late mother. She told the outlet recently: "I felt like I was betraying her on some level by doing things that she couldn't be a part of."

Nicola however eventually did decide to get married, having exchanged vows with Barnaby - who has appeared in shows like Wallander and Holby City over the course of his career - in 2006. As previously reported, they first met while working on the play The Libertine together in around 1995.

Discussing their nuptials, she told woman&home in 2017: "I was always quite daunted by the idea of marriage; my parents had the most amazing partnership, and no one wants to be the one who gets it wrong. But now that we've done it? Actually, it was just the legalities we were missing before."

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