Steve Halliwell and Jane Cox keep in touch with handwritten letters.
The ‘Emmerdale’ actor and his former co-star – who played on-screen couple Zak and Lisa Dingle on the ITV soap – are close friends away from their day job, and the pair have shunned modern technology when it comes to making sure they stay in contact following Jane’s recent exit.
He told Inside Soap magazine: "We do keep in touch, but mostly by letter. Jane loves getting my letters instead of a text or an email.
"She likes getting letters which she can look back on and think, ‘Oh, that’s how it was’. Then she writes back to me in a traditional letter too."
The 67-year-old actress left the soap when her alter-ego Lisa died of a terminal heart condition, and she is relishing the chance to try her hand at other opportunities after pondering her future following her own mother’s death.
She recently explained: "My mum died a couple of years ago, so it does make you think a lot about the big things in life. As you get older life feels shorter – although of course I am going to live to 150."
And while Steve, 73, understands why his friend decided to leave the Dales, he was upset when he heard the news.
He previously said: "Well, I was sad – but I know Jane very well, and I knew there were other things that she needed to do, other than do what we’ve done together for 20-odd years.
"So yes I was sad initially, although as she’s my friend in real life, I knew it might be on the way. So it came gently, rather than as a sudden shock."
Steve Halliwell and Jane Cox write letters to stay in touch
