The Split star Nicola Walker has teased that "there's still love" between Hannah and Nathan.
The BBC legal drama returns to screens this Christmas with two new episodes in The Split: Barcelona, which sees the Defoes head to the popular Spanish city for a family wedding.
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, the actor discussed her character Hannah's relationship with ex-husband Nathan (Stephen Mangan) now, after the two agreed to divorce in the season three finale.
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"Listen, we just love playing those characters, and what we both spoke about a lot during shooting scenes was how much we loved what was happening with the two characters, in that although they’re not together, they’re always together on some level," she told us.
"They met when they were young, they met when they were at university and they’ve been through a lot as everyone does in a marriage and it has come to an end," she added.
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"But they have children and they have a shared history and they’re finding in these two episodes this new way that they relate to each other."
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The new episodes take place two years on from The Split season three finale (which aired in May 2022), and they see Hannah single with Nathan still in a relationship with Kate (Lara Pulver).
"Stephen and I just thought it was really funny and brilliant that they’re kind of needing of each other, in a way that only people who know each other inside out can be," Walker continued.
"There’s still a lot of love there, the relationship has broken down but the love just doesn’t disappear, it’s not possible."
The Split writer Abi Morgan similarly described Hannah and Nathan's relationship as beginning to evolve into a "fun, long, lifelong friendship".
"So I’m exploring when you’ve loved someone and you’ve had the sexual, familial relationship, but what happens when that changes," she told Digital Spy.
"Can they survive without each other and step forward into this new relationship and phase in their life?"
As for romance, fans of the show were teased a possible new love interest for Hannah in the recently dropped trailer for The Split: Barcelona.
Toby Stephens plays Archie Moore, a "mysterious lawyer" who just happens to be at the same family wedding as the Defoes. But is this the first time they're meeting?
The Split: Barcelona is set to premiere on BBC One on December 29 and 30 at 9pm, and iPlayer on December 29.
Emily is an experienced freelance entertainment writer and editor, reporting on all things TV, film, soaps and showbiz. An NCTJ-qualified journalist, with a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from the University of Sussex, Emily is a former Deputy News Editor and Evening News Editor at Digital Spy. She has previously worked at Hello magazine, BBC South News and GoodtoKnow.
A small and big-screen obsessive – with subscriptions to every TV and film service under the sun – Emily knows her movie stars from soap stars, and is always clued up on the latest reality show dumping, just-dropped trailer or off-screen spat. She's interviewed a number of celebrities over the years, with highlights including The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett and GMB's Kate Garraway (who "loved" her trousers).
Emily counts Sharon Horgan and Julia Davis as her TV heroes, and is a loyal Wes Anderson fan. LinkedIn
