Dad of Mr Tumble actor’s girlfriend speaks out about 21-year age gap relationship

Mr Tumble star Justin Fletcher has found love with his CBeebies co-star, who is more than two decades younger than him.

The 55-year-old children's TV legend appears to have found 'Something Special' with fellow screen star Samantha Dorrance.

Now, the actress' father has spoken out about the pair's age-gap relationship - and whether he approves of Fletcher as a possible future son-in-law.

Last week, it was reported that the Justin's House actor has been gushing to pals about how he has found 'the one' in Dorrance, who he is said to be 'madly in love' with.

According to The Sun, his 34-year-old girlfriend now lives alongside him in his £2.5million farmhouse in Oxfordshire and the pair 'couldn't be happier'.

Samantha Dorrance has been vaguely referring to her 'partner' on social media - and it turns out it's Mr Tumble (Instagram/@samanthadorrance)

The co-stars first met back in 2015, when Dorrance bagged the role of Tootsie in The Tale of Mr Tumble, where she starred as Fletcher's best friend.

Since that was now more than a decade ago, it seems these two were something of a slow burn.

Reports claim that the duo struck up their romance while performing in panto alongside each other, before their love really blossomed while they have been touring the UK together.

The couple have been taking to the stage up and down the country in recent weeks for Fletcher's show, Justin Live: Justin Time to Rock!.

The actor, who is believed to be worth at least £2million thanks to his lucrative career in kids TV, and his new partner don't see the age difference between them as 'an issue', a source told the publication.

The pair have collaborated in a work-sense since 2015 (Instagram/@samanthadorrance)

Now, Dorrance's dad - who is only nine years older than her new man - has shared his thoughts on their relationship.

Author and songwriter Stuart Dorrance, 64, told the Daily Mail that he approves of Fletcher and told fans that the pair are smitten with one another.

"They’re very happy," he said. "We’re happy. And that’s all that matters really."

An insider also previously told the outlet that the couple have informed both their friends and castmates about them being together.

Although Fletcher and Dorrance haven't exactly gone Insta official just yet, people reckon that the Mr Tumble actor must be the 'partner' that she has been referencing in her captions recently.

Fletcher, 55, has got the approval of his partner's family (BBC)

In a post shared back in March, the entertainer told her followers that her and her 'partner' had hatched their own chickens last year.

"I was making breakfast one morning and noticed that all the eggs we had been buying from our local honesty box were fertilised," Dorrance wrote. "My partner just so happened to have an old incubator, so we dug it out. We put 14 eggs inside, thinking they probably wouldn't hatch but to our surprise, 13 of them did! It was a joyous experience, so thought I'd share some happiness this Friday afternoon."

In a post from 2024, Dorrance shared a snap of her and Fletcher on stage in a panto production of Cinderella, which she captioned: "I couldn’t ask for a better Buttons."