Inside Emmerdale Belle Dingle star’s private life – from family cancer heartache to off-screen romance

EMMERDALE Belle Dingle has been dealing with nitty-gritty business deals on the ITV soap lately – but her real life is a lot more relaxed.

Eden Taylor Draper – who has played Belle since joining the show in 2005 aged just 8 – lives a vastly different life to her character.

ITVEden has played Belle in the soap since 2005[/caption]

swedentd/InstagramShe has been in a relationship with Ed Lewis for five years[/caption]

Eden, 24, has suffered the death of her mum Lisa and time in prison after murdering her friend during her time acting on the soap.

The actress is actually the third star to play Bella – having replaced previous star Emily Mather when she stepped down.

Despite often being at the centre of the drama, away from the cameras, Eden tries to keep her life much more quiet and calm.

But it hasn’t always been easy for the star – who has been helping her sister get through her devastating cancer diagnosis.

Luckily she has support of her own, as Eden is often seen kicking back and relaxing with her long-term boyfriend Ed Lewis.

The star has been in a relationship with her beau since 2016, and regularly treats fans to snaps of the pair together.

Earlier this month, the couple snuggled together for a selfie as they enjoyed a glass of wine in the sunshine.

Eden glowed as she hid behind her duck-egg coloured puffer coat, while Ed put a loving arm around his girlfriend.

The pair celebrated their fifth anniversary in January, and have enjoyed plenty of time away travelling together.

Eden and Ed have jetted off to a number of locations including Portugal, Sri Lanka, New York and Copenhagen.

It gives Eden a chance to step back from her sometimes difficult home life, as her younger sister Francesca battles cancer.

The youngster was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when she was just 14 – and goes to hospital for treatment each week.

Eden admitted that she was often comforted by co-star Isabel Hodgins, who plays Victoria Sugden in the ITV soap.

Speaking to The Mirror, Eden said: “I was with Issy Hodgins, who plays Victoria, when I got the call, and she just held me for ages.”

Eden was written out of Emmerdale for a month in order to take time out to be with her sister and support her.

Francesca has undergone four rounds of chemotherapy to treat her cancer – seeing her lose four stone and her hair.

She is due to finish her maintenance treatment in September – as she goes to hospital to be checked over each week.

Eden remains close with her co-stars – as she has often been spotted out and about with pals Alexander Lincoln and Isabel Hodgins.

She has also posed for social media snaps with Amy Walsh, Jurell Carter and Lawrence Robb, who are all part of the cast.

Eden is also close friends with Emma Atkins – who plays Charity Dingle – as they are often seen posing for pictures together on set.

Emmerdale airs weekdays on ITV at 7pm with an extra helping on Thursdays at 8pm

swedentd/InstagramThe star’s sister Francesca has battled cancer[/caption]

instagram/@swedentdEden is also good friends with all her soap co-stars[/caption]