Turns out these Virgin River stars are married in real life

They’ve been together since meeting in acting school

The hit Netflix romance series Virgin River returned for its fourth season last week (20 July), with plenty of drama alongside new additions to the cast.

Lucia Walters plays Julia, a martial arts teacher in the fictional Northern California town of Virgin River, who becomes a new love interest for a series original. That character is John “Preacher” Middleton, played by Colin Lawrence. What’s more is the two actors have been married for over 20 years in real life.

Virgin River has won hordes of fans for its retelling of Robyn Carr’s novels about love and friendship set against the gorgeous mountainscape of the Pacific Northwest. Now, the show’s fans are shipping the real-life couple making the romance come alive on screen.

“I love your character, you’re great, too. And I like even more that your wife is in the series, you two have a surreal connection,” one person wrote on Instagram, where Lawrence had posted a photo of him and his wife in costume on the set of Virgin River.

Colin Lawrence and Lucia Walters on ‘Virgin River’ (Colin Lawrence via Instagram)

Another commented on the photo: “... What an amazing couple you two make!”

Walters and Lawrence previously starred together in Fifty Shades Darker, the second film in the erotic romance series starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Walters previously told Cosmopolitan that the couple, who have two daughters, originally met in acting school.

“You two are amazing together off screen and on screen,” another fan commented on Lawrence’s post.