Natalie Anderson renewed vows at ceremony so secret her husband was unaware

Actress Natalie Anderson says she staged a surprise ceremony to renew her wedding vows that was so secret even her husband James Shepherd did not know what was happening.

The Emmerdale and Hollyoaks star, 40, said the occasion, which took place days before their wedding anniversary, was “all I dreamt it would be”.

She told Hello! magazine she had hatched the plan with her nine-year-old son Freddie, who had delivered his father a special letter, like a scene from a romantic film.

The letter invited Shepherd, 50, to join Anderson at the ceremony to re-promise themselves to each other, and read: “I love you and if you’d like to do the same, please meet me at the beach…”

“How James didn’t know is beyond me,” Anderson told Hello!.

“It was so magical and so intimate with it just being the three of us.

“It was absolutely perfect and all I dreamt it would be.”

The ceremony took place on May 28, just days before the couple’s anniversary on June 6.

The actress wore a gown by Dutch bridal designer Modeca.

“I knew I wanted something that was simple, that I could wear without shoes, that was beachy with a lovely silhouette and just different to my wedding dress,” she said.

She revealed she still has the Pronovias silk and Swarovski-beaded and lace dress with 8ft cathedral train that she wore 14 years ago for their wedding in North Yorkshire.

As well as parts on the long-running soaps, Anderson is due to make her big-screen debut alongside Liam Neeson in action-thriller Memory.

The full interview can be read in the next issue of the magazine.