The Amazing Similarities Between Miranda Hart and Her New Husband’s Ex-Wife! SARAH RAINEY explains why the pair make such an intriguing couple

Comparison,” begins one of Miranda Hart’s favorite quotes, recently shared on Instagram with her 1.2 million followers, “is the thief of joy.”

And joy is an emotion the 51-year-old actress and comedian, who surprised fans with news of her secret wedding earlier this month, has been full of lately.

Making a series of media appearances to launch her new book I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You, which details her private battle with Lyme disease, a chronic condition that left her bedridden for years, Miranda had tight-lipped about his identity. new husband

After much speculation, it was confirmed to be Richard Fairs, the 60-year-old boss of a construction company, whom Miranda struck up a romance with during the lockdown and married this year.

But that’s where the comparisons start, sorry Miranda. While Miranda has been candid in the past about her single life, Richard has been married before, and to someone who has a lot in common with his new bride.

Amanda Heart, 51, married Richard Fairs, a 60-year-old construction company boss, after striking up a romance with him during lockdown.

Jeanne Fairs, 60, was the first wife of the new Mr. Hart. The couple, who have two grown children, were married for more than 25 years before splitting in 2017, and it looks like they may have a guy.

With their shoulder-length, light brown hair, elongated faces and strong jaws, not to mention wide smiles and thin, arched eyebrows, Jeanne and Miranda share striking similarities in appearance.

Although different in height and stature – Miranda is 6ft 1in and has opened up about how her illness made her gain weight – while Jeanne’s sons Jack and Shula take on their mother slim and petite; their wardrobes are also very similar.

Photos on social media show them wearing similar nautical stripes, leopard-print scarves and chunky cardigans. And the comparisons don’t end there.

Jeanne, an English teacher who is currently the assistant principal of a secondary school in Portishead, outside Bristol, has a taste for comedy writing, like her ex-husband’s new wife.

Her blog The Dragonfly Jar is full of irreverent and self-deprecating posts about life as a divorcee, including jokes, spanning her love of David Cassidy, comical interactions with her teenage students and her penchant for “disco naps” – that no doubt Miranda laughs.

Both women also share a close bond with their siblings. Jeanne is the youngest of four. He has a brother and a sister; her other sister died in 2019. Meanwhile, Miranda’s sister Alice lives with her parents in Hambledon, Hampshire, and is said to have helped facilitate their wedding at the village’s local church.

Like Richard, whom Miranda calls a “Bristol boy”, Jeanne is originally from the city. However, he attended Angmering Comprehensive School in West Sussex, while Miranda went to Downe House in Berkshire, the alma mater of Kate and Pippa Middleton.

Both women grew up in religious families. “As Bible Methodists, even buying a raffle ticket, let alone biting wine gum, was strictly frowned upon,” Jeanne writes on her blog. Miranda, meanwhile, is a staunch Christian, having once admitted, “It’s scary to say you’re pro-God.”

Children also feature prominently in their two worlds. Jeanne, whose two older children call her “Mama J,” refers to them as her “brilliant cheerleaders.”

“If you’re lucky enough to have children, whatever their age, spend time with them,” she writes.

Richard was married to first wife Jeanne Fairs, 60, for more than 25 years before splitting in 2017.

“When I’m down on my knees and doubting myself, my two seem to ‘get’ me.”

Miranda does not have children, but loves her dog, a little dog named Patti. But she is a proud aunt to her niece and nephew. Writing to X after the birth of her niece Jemima in 2009, she said: “Very well my sister having children so I can have some to play with but return them soon at any sign of tears or poo “.

Friends say she is a devoted and generous aunt, and really enjoyed spending time with young children on the set of the BBC’s Call The Midwife, in which her character Chummy had a son of her own.

On Mother’s Day 2019, Miranda posted online: “Happy day to all those who have chosen or been unable to have children, but nurture and love and mother in other ways.”

And she has written children’s books, including The Girl with the Lost Smile, a story about an 11-year-old girl who can’t find her smile, which was published in 2017.

Although they come from very different worlds, Miranda lives in a £2 million London house; Jeanne has bought and renovated a dilapidated country house near Bristol; they also share several interests.

As much as gardening and plants, both watch period dramas: Miranda starred in the 2020 film adaptation of Emma; Jeanne favors the BBC box set of Pride and Prejudice, and both have a penchant for making others laugh by dressing up in silly costumes and doing humorous dances.

A recent photo on her blog shows Jeanne in a mermaid tail at a book club gathering, joking about doing a “Telly Tubby dance” at her son’s upcoming wedding.

Meanwhile, Miranda is a fan of Strictly Come Dancing and is treating her Instagram followers to ‘Choreography Tuesday’, recreating moves from the competition.

If the circumstances were different, one wonders if they could have been friends. Both are careful about what they eat; while Richard’s ex-wife is a vegetarian, Miranda follows a strict gluten- and dairy-free diet and hasn’t drunk alcohol in years.

Jeanne spends much of her free time running (she completed a 50km “ultramarathon” last year) and is a trained yoga teacher. When she was younger, Miranda was also something of an athlete, once completing a 100m race in an astonishing 12 seconds (the women’s world record is 10.49) without training.

They also share a desire for privacy. Although her career puts her in the spotlight, Miranda has always led a low-key private life. The fact that she kept a new romance, engagement and wedding a secret shows how good she is at leading a “normal” life.

Even in her book, where she details meeting Richard when he came to fix a mold problem at her house, and their first date for takeout pizza, she doesn’t say it and hasn’t shared a photo of them yet together .

When contacted by the Mail for comment this week, Jeanne did not respond, while friends and family declined to discuss Richard’s new romance.

She also seems to have found love later on, referencing on her blog a handsome young couple in their 60s, whom she calls “my type”. One weekend, he surprised her with a bouquet of sunflowers and a mug painted with a dragonfly, a gesture that made her “emotionally melt,” she says.

Jeanne certainly empathizes with Miranda’s words in her new book: “The fact that you can meet someone is not some kind of romantic story, but it is hope; there is always hope, things can change.” If you rush to buying a copy is another matter.