Emily Atack is engaged! Actress reveals boyfriend Alistair Garner popped the question as she debuts dazzling diamond ring in loved up snap – a year after welcoming son Barney
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Emily Atack has announced she is engaged.
The Rivals, 35, actress took to her Instagram on Friday to reveal the happy news alongside a loved up snap with her shirtless fiancé Alistair Garner.
The couple, who welcomed son Barney in June 2024, looked happier than ever as they beamed for the camera while also showing off the stunner’s dazzling diamond ring, which appeared to be a square cut on an elegant gold band.
Emily gushed in the caption: ‘It’s Friday, I’m in love’ while fans and famous friends rushed to the comments to offer their congratulations.
Laura Whitmore wrote: ‘Yassssss! Delighted for you both you cuties xxx’, while Fleur East said: ‘Woooo! Let’s gooo!!! Congrats’ and Sophie Ellis Bextor shared applause emojis.
Tilly Kepper typed: ‘Congratulations!!’ followed by Emily’s Rivals co-star Bella Maclean who gushed: ‘AHHHHHHHHHHH’.
Emily Atack, 35, has announced she is engaged to boyfriend Alistair Garner as she took to Instagram with a loved-up post on Friday
The actress has known her boyfriend Alistair for almost three decades as her mother is the sister of Alistair’s stepmother Jane Garner.
They were introduced after Emily’s aunt started dating Alistair’s father Stephen Garner in the early nighties before they got married in 1994.
Writing in her 2019 autobiography Are We There Yet?, Emily gave clues as to why she’s ended up in a relationship with Alistair, 38, because her cousins ‘understand each other on a deep level.’
She says: ‘Cousins are the best invention since the Game Boy. They are basically 50 per cent sibling, 50 per cent mate. You look the same but different…
‘You understand each other on a deep, deep, level and you have a smidgen more social etiquette towards them than your brother or sister…
‘It makes me sad for my friends who don’t have that relationship with their cousins, because mine were the best friends I ever had. They are still my best friends to this day.’
Emily rarely comments on her private life but has now admitted that she feels as if she has ‘won the lottery’ with the little one, and added that she couldn’t have gone through the ‘difficult labour’ with anyone but her partner.
She told HELLO! magazine last year: ‘I couldn’t ask for a better partner and Al is the only person on this earth that I could have done this with.
The couple welcomed son Barney together last June (pictured celebrating his first birthday)
Emily gushed in the caption: ‘It’s Friday, I’m in love’ while fans and famous friends rushed to the comments to offer their congratulations
‘It was a very difficult birth and after 12 hours of labour I ended up having an emergency caesarean, but he was so calm.’
Emily also described Alistair as her ‘literal rock’ and can not picture her life with anyone else.
She added: ‘All the cliches of life become true when you fall in love and have a baby. He’s my rock, but he really, literally, is my rock; I couldn’t do life with anyone else but him.’
She explained that they had hoped to have a family of their own after a year of dating and discovered her pregnancy in November 2023 when she realised she had missed a period.
She told The Times: ‘[Alistair] joked, “Let’s buy a pregnancy test then” We did and I was pregnant.
‘It was the happiest, most perfect day of my life. Not long afterwards, he packed all his stuff in a van in Manchester where he lived and arrived at my house.’
The actress explained that shortly after this, they bought a house together and Barney conveniently arrived the day after they finished unpacking.
Emily has a large number of cousins courtesy of the sprawling families of both her parents, actress Kate and singer father Keith Atack, who split in 2007.
Alistair hails from her mother’s side, being the stepson of Kate’s sister Jane who married his father Stephen Garner, who passed away in the summer of 2023, leaving Emily devastated.
It comes after joked that she was ‘fully clothed’ as she attended Wimbledon this week – after appearing in an iconic naked tennis scene for racy series Rivals.
Emily had known Alistair for more than 30 years by the time they struck up a relationship, and it was later revealed that he is her auntie’s stepson (pictured on Loose Women in Oct 2024)
They were introduced after Emily’s aunt started dating Alistair’s father Stephen Garner in the early nighties before they got married in 1994 (pictured with Alistair)
Emily rarely comments on her private life but has now admitted that she feels as if she has ‘won the lottery’ with the little one, and added that she couldn’t have gone through the ‘difficult labour’ with anyone but her partner
She stripped off naked while starring as Sarah Stratton in Disney’s raucous comedy series last year, based off the 1988 novel Jilly Cooper.
The now-famous scene sees Emily’s character Sarah playing tennis with Alex Hassell’s character Rupert Campbell Black while they were both naked.
The lovers are interrupted by Agatha (Bella Maclean) and Sarah strategically covers her modesty with tennis balls, while Rupert boldly bares all in the very racy scene.
It is one of the most notable from the sexy series and was deemed as one of the most memorable TV moments of the year – even being nominated in the Memorable Moment award at the 2025 TV BAFTAs.
Emily shared her Wimbledon snaps to Instagram on Wednesday as she showed off her chic cream and black outfit.
The blonde beauty then joked in her caption: ‘Fully clothed tennis this time…
‘I still can’t believe I get invited to these things. Thank you @wimbledon for a lovely day out, and thank you @pimmsgb for making the drinks look great with my outfit.’
It comes after Emily joked that she was ‘fully clothed’ as she attended Wimbledon this week – after appearing in an iconic naked tennis scene for racy series Rivals
She stripped off naked while starring as Sarah Stratton in Disney’s raucous comedy series last year, based off the 1988 novel Jilly Cooper
After Emily’s nude Rivals scene aired, the comedian was forced to hit back at trolls who targeted her with ‘sexually aggressive’ attention.
Emily shared her frustration after receiving negative comments about the nude scene and said it is her job and she is ‘playing a part’.
She told The Times: ‘I knew something like that would happen, just not this quickly. I’m at work, I’m playing a part, that scene is integral to the book.
‘I am exactly where I need to be.
‘I can’t control people’s sexually aggressive behaviour, but I can continue with my campaigning and fighting for women’s freedom.
‘I should be able to do a scene like this and not receive negative attention. The two should not go hand in hand.’
