Home and Away John Palmer actor kept relationship with co-star ‘secret for years’
Summer Bay Icon Shane Withington Reveals Decades-Long Secret Romance with Co-Star
Shane Withington, the veteran actor who has portrayed the “cranky but warm-hearted” John Palmer on Home and Away since 2009, has recently surprised fans by opening up about a romantic secret he managed to keep hidden for years. While viewers are used to John Palmer’s turbulent love life on screen—ranging from his marriage to Gina Palmer to his long-term partnership with Marilyn Chambers—Withington’s real-life love story is one of the most stable and enduring in Australian television history.
The actor is married to actress Anne Tenney, a relationship that began decades ago on the set of the iconic Australian drama A Country Practice. However, despite their fame as one of the country’s most beloved on-screen couples, the pair intentionally kept their real-life romance a closely guarded secret during the height of the show’s popularity.
A Romance Born in Wandin Valley
Long before he walked the sands of Summer Bay, Withington rose to stardom in the early 1980s as Brendan Jones on A Country Practice. His character was famously married to Molly Jones, played by Anne Tenney. Their on-screen chemistry was so profound that it captured the hearts of millions, but what the public didn’t know at the time was that the two had fallen in love behind the scenes as well.
Withington recently reflected on why they chose to keep their relationship private, explaining that they were determined to protect their bond from the intense media scrutiny of the era. “We kept it under our hats; no one really knew,” Withington shared. “We didn’t want the media to get a hold of it. We kept it a secret for years because we didn’t want to ‘cheapen’ our relationship by doing a magazine cover saying ‘we found love on a soap opera.’”
Protecting a Private Bond
For Withington and Tenney, the decision was about more than just privacy; it was about valuing their relationship as something separate from their public personas. By the time Tenney left A Country Practice in 1985—following one of the most-watched and heartbreaking death scenes in Australian TV history—their real-life partnership was already firmly established.
Even their colleagues were often left in the dark. Home and Away co-star Lynne McGranger (Irene Roberts) recently admitted she was “shocked” when she finally learned the truth years later. During a conversation in the green room, she asked Shane if he was married, only for him to reveal he had been with Tenney for over 30 years. McGranger described herself as turning into a “hopeless soap romantic” upon realizing that the “real” Brendan and Molly were actually together in real life.
An Enduring Legacy
Today, Shane Withington and Anne Tenney remain one of the strongest couples in the industry, having successfully navigated the pressures of fame for over four decades. They are parents to daughter Madeleine Withington, who has followed in her parents’ footsteps into the world of acting.
While John Palmer continues to search for stability in Summer Bay, Withington’s own life is a testament to the power of keeping some things away from the cameras. By prioritizing their privacy, the couple managed to build a lasting marriage that has outlived almost every soap opera romance on record.