Inside Granite Harbour star Dawn Steele’s life off-screen – from brutal health battle to jaw-dropping beach wedding
GRANITE Harbour star Dawn Steele plays DCI Cora MacMillan in the new BBC detective drama, but she has a colourful life off screen.
The 48-year-old has been a regular on our TV screens for over two decades, having starred in shows including Holby City and Shetland.
With all three episodes of Granite Harbour now on BBC iPlayer, it’s only fitting that we deep-dive into the DCI Cora MacMillan star’s life away from the cameras.
EARLIER YEARS
Dawn was born and raised in Glasgow.
She studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and graduated with first-class honours in 1998.
In 1999, she got her big break in acting when she landed the role of Alexandra in Monarch of the Glen.
Since then, she’s found huge success as an actress and has appeared in numerous hit shows.
TV CAREER
Following her successful gig in the BBC drama Monarch of the Glen, Dawn has remained a regular on our TV screens ever since.
Many will recognise the 48-year-old as Alice Trevanion from ITV‘s Wild at Heart or Dr. Annie Jandhu in BBC Soap Opera River City.
Dawn also went on to play the role of Ange Godard in Holby City from 2018 until 2022 and Stella Quinn in the 2023 police drama Shetland.
PERSONAL LIFE
Currently, Dawn resides in Whitstable, Kent, with her husband Paul Blair and their daughter Coco.
Dawn usually keeps her personal life private, but occasionally, she shares updates of her home by the sea on her Instagram account.
She has previously been seen enjoying a swim in the ocean, at-home yoga sessions, and spending precious time with her beloved pet dog and loved ones.
DREAM BEACH WEDDING
Dawn married her husband Paul in June 2017 in a stunning ceremony on the beach in Whitstable.
She previously spoke about the special day with Daily Record and told them: “It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was amazing.
“We married at a venue which is on the beach, it was so sunny and gorgeous and we really couldn’t have asked for more. Now people understand why we live in Whitstable.”
Dawn went on to tell the publication that her wedding happened around the same time she was filming wedding scenes for River City.
After filming and her wedding passed, she revealed she eventually got “sick” of talking about weddings, and her on-screen hen do even overlapped with her real-life celebrations.
Dawn confessed: “What was funny was things like Annie’s hen do, I literally took off the sash and the deely boppers for her hen do when I was filming and then got in the car and went to my own hen weekend and put a sash back on. It was just too weird.”
HEALTH BATTLES
Over the years, Dawn has occasionally spoken about her personal life and previously revealed that she tragically suffered a stroke at the age of 37 in 2013.
Initially, the TV star thought she was having a migraine before realising that she had suffered a stroke.
The actress was told she had a hole in her heart when the health scare occurred.
In an interview with BBC South East Today, she explained that the health scare “flipped everything on its head” and “life changed a lot”.
She expressed: “I just have to be real thankful that I had nothing afterwards. I’m not learning how to talk again, I’m not learning how to walk.
“As soon as you tell people that you’ve had a stroke, everyone has a story. It’s made me look at life differently, and it’s made me be more appreciative I think, and to try and live in the here and now.”
What are the symptoms of stroke?
The FAST method – which stands for Face, Arms, Speech, Time – is the easiest way to remember the most common symptoms of stroke:
F = Face drooping – if one side of a person’s face is dropped or numb then ask them to smile, if it’s uneven then you should seek help.
A = Arm weakness – if one arm is weak or numb then you should ask the person to raise both arms. If one arm drifts downwards then you might need to get help
S = Speech difficulty – if a person’s speech is slurred then this could be a sign of a stroke
T = Time to call 999 – if a person has the signs above then you need to call 999 in the UK or 911 in the US for emergency care.
Other symptoms include:
- sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body
- difficulty finding words
- sudden blurred vision or loss of sight
- sudden confusion, dizziness or unsteadiness
- a sudden and severe headache
- difficulty understanding what others are saying
- difficulty swallowing