Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies, 62, ‘strikes up romance’ with model Oliver Cole, 27

Over the festive period, RTD, who turns 63 in April, took to Instagram with a sweet selfie, writing: ‘Merry Christmas! From me & Oliver ♥️’

In the homely snap, the couple stood smiling in the kitchen, Oliver wearing a stylish striped sweater and white shirt combo, and Russell seemingly with an arm around him.

Behind them were various champagne bottles plus the aftermath of some sort of baking activity, suggesting the new couple made the most of the downtime over Christmas.

In the comments, fans and co-workers were keen to wish them well, with Russell Tovey commenting a series of heart eyes, while It’s A Sin star Nathaniel Curtis wrote: ‘Merry Christmas my babies xx’

‘Delicious pair! Oodles of love x’, added I’m A Celebrity’s Tom Read Wilson.

On his own Insta, which was tagged by Russell, aspiring model Oliver boasts 3.8k followers and frequently shares high-fashion snaps.

It’s not known when he and Russell started dating, but the television producer was liking Oliver’s posts in early June.

Under one, he wrote: ‘Morning! X’, to which Oliver replied: ‘morning Russell darling xx’

And on his 27th birthday, Oliver filmed an artsy clip inside the Tardis, donning a waistcoat and long, brown coat in true homage to the Time Lord.

‘Another Year Passes But it’s alright I have a TARDIS x’, his caption read, with Oliver later forced to clarify that his video was by no means an announcement.

‘Not the new Doctor’, he added, despite plenty of commenters saying he’d make a good one. ‘Promise x’

Oliver is Russell’s first publicly known partner since the death of his husband, Andrew Smith, in 2018.

They got together in 1999 and entered a civil partnership on December 1, 2012.

Customs officer Smith was diagnosed with a brain tumour and told he had just a 3% chance of recovering.

He sadly died on September 29, 2018, with Russell’s hit series Years and Years ending with a title card dedicated to him.

Prior to his husband’s death, Russell took two and a half years out of work to care for him, telling the Radio Times: ‘We had seven years of that illness together, and it’s lovely to come and talk about my shows, but that’s the greatest work I’ll ever do on this Earth.

‘I surprised myself because I thought my work was more important to me.

‘He was a bit disabled but quite able-bodied, so I didn’t have to do the dirty end of caring, but nonetheless, I was there.

‘He wasn’t steady on the stairs, so I was with him night and day to help him and get every meal ready.’

Reflecting on the night he met Smith, at which time Russell was working on Channel 4’s Queer as Folk, he said they first locked eyes in a club at ’10 to two in the morning’.

‘He was so handsome,’ Russell recalled. ‘Across the club, I could not believe that there was this handsome man, and he was looking at me.’

Russell also joked about how he turned Smith down numerous times when he suggested getting married, but after his diagnosis, he agreed – even if he did have to be ‘dragged kicking and screaming down that aisle’.

‘It was a hilariously sad wedding, just six people, but that day we had the biggest laugh, because it was so tragic, so wonderful.’

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