Tamzin Outhwaite, 49, speaks about COVID-19 lockdown with beau Tom Child, 28

Tamzin Outhwaite has revealed fears that a number of romantic relationships may not go the distance as couples isolate together amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 49-year-old actress – who went into isolation with her partner Tom Child, 28, on March 16 after the couple displayed symptoms – believes the crisis will prove to be a testing time for couples as they potentially spend months locked in together.

She told The Mirror: ‘You do wonder when people come out of ­lockdown how many people will go, “That’s not for me.” Or if others will propose and think, “If I can do that, I know I can be with you forever.”‘

However, when asked by the publication if she believed her own partner of two years had any plans to pop the big question, the former EastEnders star laughed as she responded: ‘I am not talking about that.’

Elsewhere in the interview, the mother-of-two insisted she’s far from bothered by the 21-year age gap between herself and her personal trainer and filmmaker beau, who she she began dating after meeting him in a yoga studio. 

‘It’s not an issue,’ she said. ‘Once other people get over it, it’s not an issue for them. It’s something if it works, if the energy of it works, your ­connection works then nothing else really matters.’

Tamzin expressed the same sentiments in February when, during an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, she admitted she ‘doesn’t care what others think’ about their age gap, and insisted her daughters Florence, 11, and Marnie, seven, ‘adore’ her beau.

The soap – who was previously married to actor Tom Ellis, with whom she shares her daughters – also touched on turning 50 in November, enthusing she feels ‘privileged’ about entering a new chapter of her life.

Tamzin has been dating Scareycrows actor Tom since April 2018, four years after her divorce from her former co-star and husband of eight years.

The star credited her new ‘glow’ to dating a younger man as she joked to presenter Lorraine Kelly: ‘You know it is, Lorraine, you know it is!’

Revealing she had met Tom before, the host gushed, ‘He’s rather lovely’, to which Tamzin replied, ‘He really is. He’s going to be so embarrassed by this!’

Shedding light on their blossoming romance, the media personality shared: ‘It does work. It’s about energy and about connection, I think.

‘It doesn’t matter how much you fight it – there’s 20 years between us. He just must never shave the beard off because that would be horrific for me!’

The blonde also said her two girls have grown to love her partner, adding: ‘I tell you what it is, when you get to this age, you stop caring what people think.

‘I think that’s a really important place to get to, because now the only opinions that matter are my two girls and if they adore him, which they do… that’s all I need.’

It has been claimed that her ex Tom – who has since tied the knot with screenwriter Meaghan Oppenheimer – cheated on her with Australian actress, Emilie de Ravin, in 2013 as they filmed for the TV series Once Upon A Time while in America.

On entering a new decade later this year, the thespian admitted she hasn’t planned a party yet, but is certain the celebrations will ‘continue for another 10 years’.  

The COVID-19 crisis forced the actress to step down from her role in the West End show, Chekhov’s The Seagull, alongside Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, which had been due to run from March 11 until May 30.