EastEnders star Jessie Wallace, 51, confirms engagement to carpenter boyfriend Justin Gallwey-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro

Jessie Wallace has confirmed her engagement to carpenter boyfriend Justin Gallwey (Picture: Instagram/@jessie.wallace_official)

Jessie Wallace has confirmed her engagement to boyfriend Justin Gallwey.

The EastEnders star, 51, sparked rumours she was preparing to walk down the aisle with Justin, 50, earlier this month.

Actress Jessie was seen wearing a gold band on her ring finger while out and about in February, in snaps obtained by The Sun.

Fans were hugely excited for Jessie amid the unconfirmed reports, with her and her rumoured fiance believed to have been friends since they were teenagers.

Now Jessie has confirmed the fairytale as she gushed over her fiance in a social media post.

Taking to Instagram on Monday, the soaps star shared a grinning snap with her and Justin out for a walk in the sunshine, both wearing casual black outfits including dark sunglasses.

Jessie, a wide smile on her face, cuddles up to Justin in the photo, her hand on his chest.

She captioned it: ‘My fiancé and moi,’ along with a heart emoji.

Friends, colleagues and fans of the star flooded to the comment to wish the couple well, with fellow EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite writing: ‘Congratulations darling. Happy days ahead which you deserve.’

Plenty of other EastEnders colleagues also got in touch, with Lacey Turner, Nat Cassidy, Emma Barton each sharing their congratulations.

A source had told The Sun the EastEnders star was engaged, insisting the actress had ‘been proudly wearing the ring.’

Last year, Jessie shared aa snap of her and her then-boyfriend with their arms around each other to social media, captioning it: ‘My hubby.’

Jessie has previously called Justin her ‘hubby’ (Picture: Instagram/@jessie.wallace_official)

The pair are set to walk up the aisle as Jessie confirmed he was her ‘fiance’ (Picture: Getty Images)

Jessie, who has played Kat Slater in the BBC One soap on and off since 2000, was previously engaged to Vincent Morse, with the pair set to tie the knot in 2011 before the wedding was called off at the last minute.

She shares daughter Tallulah, 18, with ex Dave Morgan.

Jessie and Justin are believed to have been together for over a year, with Justin said to be a stabilising influence on her life following her 2022 arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct and allegedly assaulting a police officer outside a nightclub.

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She was released without charge after receiving a caution, and the couple were photographed together for the first time shortly after the incident.

Justin told The Sun on Sunday at the time: ‘I just want to protect her. Everything is happy and things are good.’

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