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Robson Green is back on our screens in BBC One’s new crime drama The Northumbria Mysteries, playing a man who lost it all – his money, his wife, and his child – as a result of his gambling.
He plays another cheeky chappie with a twinkle in his eye. This time, Robson portrays Joe Ruby, an ex-con who is trying to better his life and go straight. It’s the perfect role for him, and one his fans will surely love.
It might just sweeten the blow of Grantchester coming to an end in 2027 after 11 series. In fact, the two shows are not dissimilar.
Here’s a deep dive into the life of Robson Green, including his career, wife and personal battles. They read more like a TV script than a TV script!
Liz White and Robson Green lead the cast of The Northumbria Mysteries (Credit: BBC One)
Robson Green plays Joe Ruby in The Northumbria Mysteries
The Northumbria Mysteries is a brand-new detective drama series, set in the “glorious Northumberland countryside”. At the heart of the show is an unlikely crime-solving duo, ex-con Joe Ruby (Robson Green) and Oxford-educated DI Rose O’Connell (Liz White).
While Rose is an intellectual with an ice-cool disposition, Joe has been on the wrong side of the law for much of his life. But he’s now trying to make amends for the wrongs of his past.
Volunteering at a local priory, tending to the grounds, he seeks forgiveness and attempts to start a new life, all under the kind but watchful eye of Father David (Simon Callow).
However, when bodies start to show up, Joe’s links to the underworld make him useful to DI Rose O’Connell… And, so, a new “unlikely duo” is born.
Talking about his character, Robson said: “Joe Ruby is a guy seeking redemption. He’s a gambler and a risk taker and someone who has always been lured into temptation despite having a good heart and wanting to do the right thing. He’s a charmer, but he’s fallible and, through the choices he has made along the way, he has lost everything.”
Robson’s TV career highlights
Robson Green currently plays DI Geordie Keating in Grantchester. But he became famous in the 1980s playing Jimmy Powell in BBC One’s Casualty. He played the cheeky porter from 1989 to 1992.
He went on to star as Dave Tucker in Soldier Soldier, alongside Jerome Flynn’s Paddy Garvey. The pair became quite the double act, and even released several songs together under Simon Cowell’s record label.
Simon was so keen to sign the duo that Robson reportedly threatened legal action to stop The X Factor star from harassing them! Not cool, Simon, not cool!
Robson also played Dave Creegan in Touching Evil, Joe Purvis in Grafters, Colin in Northern Lights, and Rob Scotcher in Waterloo Road.
He joined the cast of Grantchester in 2014. Robson has also won over a new audience with his lifestyle shows, including Robson Green: Extreme Fisherman, Tales from Northumberland, and Robson Green: Walking Coast to Coast.
More recently, Robson has proved he can deliver a good villain in Channel 5 thriller The Game, opposite Jason Watkins.
Robson Green and partner Zoila Short attended the 2019 ITV Palooza! at the Royal Festival Hall (Credit: Splash)
Who is the wife of Robson Green?
Robson is currently not married, but he has been dating Zoila Short ever since 2016. Robson met Filipina Zoila in a Newcastle gym, and she left her vicar husband to be with him.
Mum-of-two Zoila now lives with Robson in Hexham, Northumberland. They went public with their relationship in 2018. Sounds like a plot straight out of Grantchester!
Robson met former Sunday School teacher Zoila when she was married to the Vicar of North Tyneside village Wideopen, with whom she has two children. She subsequently left her husband for Robson.
At the time, the jilted Rev Geoffrey Short spoke out about the affair. He told the Mirror how he was left questioning his faith after his wife of 16 years left him for the famous actor.
He told the newspaper that Zoila told him: “I’m leaving you for Robson Green. When she told me I felt anger, amazement. It’s very painful. Part of me feels amazed that this has happened. It was just totally out of the blue. Of course there is a lot of anger towards Green, but as a Christian I have to forgive.”
The Reverend Short went on to say that the affair was the talk of the community. Geoffrey added: “The guy’s practically haunting me, taking over my whole life. He’s on Grantchester, Northumberland Tales, it’s horrible.”
However, in an interview with The Times, Robson insisted both he and Zoila were single when they got together. Setting the record straight, he said: “She never left him for me. We were two single people who met in the gym. That’s the story.”
Robson’s girlfriend ‘keeps him young’
In a 2020 interview with the Mirror, Robson credited Zoila for keeping him young. He also revealed she enjoys fishing like him.
He said: “When we have time, Zoila and I will put on our waders and cast a line for trout or salmon. She’s amazing. She was brought up fishing and really knows how to cook it too.”
Zoila is reportedly 53 – nearly a decade younger than Robson who is 61. She now works as a production assistant on some of Green’s television projects, such as Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes.
However, he has made it clear that he “has no plans to marry” Zoila.
Robson Green and former wife Vanya Seager pictured in 2009 (Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock)
Who was the first wife of Robson Green?
Previously, Robson was married to occupational therapist Alison Ogilvie from 1991 to their divorce eight years later in 1999. Reportedly after Robson had an affair. He later married former Page 3 model Vanya Seager.
His second wife Vanya was originally from Hong Kong. The pair met in 1995 when Vanya was working as a PA for Simon Cowell, and Robson was recording Unchained Melody.
They wed in 2001 at Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire, after Vanya gave birth to their son, Taylor Seager-Green in 2000. However, in October 2011, the couple issued a statement saying that their marriage had “irretrievably broken down” and that they were separating. They divorced in 2011.
Following the breakdown of his marriage, Robson told Sunday People that he sought counselling. “I saw this incredible therapist who allowed me to talk things through,” he said. “I came away with genuine peace of mind.”
Does Robson Green have children with his wife?
Robson has one child from his marriage to Page 3 model Vanya Seager. Their son Taylor Seager-Green was born in 2000. So that makes him around 26. He’s now a bodybuilder, and his Instagram is here.
Robson and Taylor are described as being “extremely close, which is essential for Robson”. Talking about his divorce to Vanya, Robson once explained: “Maybe it is being away all the time, maybe it’s not being the greatest husband in the world… But, by default, that does not make you a bad father.
“I try to keep my side of the street clean and I am a good dad. You get to the point where you may be great as individuals but you’re not great for one another. I’ve had to explain that to Taylor.”
Robson Green with his young son Taylor in 2003 (Credit: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock)
How old is Robson Green? Where is he from?
Robson Golightly Green was born on December 18, 1964, in Hexham, Northumberland.
That means he is currently 61 years old.
Robson grew up in Dudley, a small mining village south of Cramlington. His father, also named Robson Green, was a miner, and his mother Anne was a cleaner and shopkeeper.
He attended Dudley Middle Comprehensive School, leaving school aged 16 with five O-levels. He joined Swan Hunter’s shipyard as a draughtsman. However, after two years, he decided he wanted to try acting. And the rest is history!
Robson Green ‘scared’ of his dad
Robson once admitted he was “fearful” of his dad as a child after seeing him beat a man up and put him in a dustbin. One of four children, Robson grew up in Dudley, Northumberland.
In a piece he wrote for Reader’s Digest, the Grantchester star revealed his father would go to any length to stick up for him. This included getting into fights.
The much-loved actor recalled how his dad was a miner, who looked like a powerful man, who “demanded respect”. Robson wrote: “He was never physical with my sisters and brother and me, but I was fearful of him and he got into a few fights outside home.
“When I was nine, a young man tried to rearrange my face with his foot. When my dad saw what had happened, he went over to his house and rearranged the father’s face and stuffed him in the dustbin.”
Recalling the tension between him and his father, Robson also recalled the time he was playing football and lost one of his shoes after which he said his dad “gave me the biggest hiding of my life”.
Robson Green as Geordie Keating opposite Rishi Nair’s Reverend Alphy Kottaram in Grantchester (Credit: ITV)
Family rift
Robson has also previously revealed that he and his siblings were brought up in poverty. He told The Herald Sun: “I had to bring my mother money for us to survive.”
Robson later got in touch with his dad to make amends. He said: “I told him he was an idiot. I probably was sometimes myself, but I didn’t deserve half the stuff I was given and reminded him of that.”
The actor said his father initially denied there was a problem between the pair, with Robson pointing out that that was the “barrier” between them.
Eventually the pair made amends with the father-of-one- revealing: “I said to him with everything that went on, we’ve talked about it, I forgive you now. Let’s get on with it.”
Sadly, his father died in 2016, aged 73.
Robson Green’s drink and drug addiction
Actor Robson Green has also faced real problems with drink and drugs in his past. He has previously opened up about his struggles, which happened when he was a young actor.
The problems arose when he became a household name, thanks to ITV drama Soldier Soldier. He told The Mirror: “I was just 26 years old when real fame came knocking at my door with a drama called Soldier Soldier watched by 21 million people.”
He admitted he enjoyed fame, the recognition and the approval… as well as the parties, the “drinking and everything else that went with fame”.
He added: “I started having real problems with fame and alcohol and drugs.” Robson went on to say that he was “losing touch with what really mattered in life” and that his “relationships were a car crash”.
The Northumbria Mysteries airs on Fridays at 9pm from October 23, 2026, on BBC One.
The post Robson Green: Being ‘scared’ of his dad, the rift in his family, drink and drug addiction, and messy relationship history appeared first on Entertainment Daily.
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