While we're all watching Virgin River for the love story between Melinda Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson) — who are somehow not dating in real life — another romance has been brewing off-screen. Colin Lawrence, who plays the role of John "Preacher" Middleton in the Netflix drama, is full-on married to one of his Virgin River co-stars.
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He and Lucia Walters, who fans will recognize as nonother than Julia, have been married for a whopping two decades.
The couple reportedly met in 1997 while studying acting in college. Details of their meet-cute are not public knowledge, but we must assume that they hit it off pretty quickly because they got married in 1999.
During their 24-year marriage, they've had two beautiful daughters and worked together on multiple projects together—including Virgin River. While Walters' character was originally only on the series for a few episodes in Season 3, her role became much bigger when she and Lawerence played each other's love interests in Season 4. Which means their insane on-screen chemistry is totally real.
"On screen romance, real life love," Lawrence recently captioned a sweet photo on Instagram to celebrate their anniversary. "You're always by my side."
So, what other secrets has the Preacher been hiding? Read on to learn more about his life—and his real-life love.
Who is Colin Lawrence?
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If you're not familiar with the man behind Jack's BFF, allow us to give you a brief introduction. Lawrence is a British-born Canadian actor who started in Hollywood in 1995.
While you may know him from his Virgin River gig, the man has done tons of television and movie work. You may have caught him on major projects like The Twilight Zone, Fantastic Four, Fringe, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, The Good Doctor and Riverdale. He's also guest starred on all three of the longest-running science fiction series in North America: The X-Files, Stargate SG-1, and Smallville.
Outside of playing Preacher, Lawrence is probably best known for the role of Hamish "Skull" McCall in the Battlestar Galactic series and as Janko in the CW comedy crime drama iZombie. Even though his background is definitely heavy with a lot of supernatural and sci-fi stuff, the actor has said the Virgin River set was a particularly special one for him—especially seeing as how he loves to cook.
"I'm a bonafide chef myself," he said in a 2019 YouTube interview. "I'm a big chef, foodie type of guy. I like filming a lot of the stuff in Jack's Bar. My home's in the kitchen, but Jack's bar is where all the town comes together."
Who is Colin Lawrence's Wife?
Lucia Walters has been just as active on the Hollywood scene as her husband. The actress has been active in TV and film since 1994, appearing in projects like Psych, The L Word, and The Good Doctor. Like Lawrence, she also guest-starred on The X-Files, Stargate SG-1 and Smallville. She's probably best known for her recurring roles as Fern Redmund on the CW drama Life Unexpected.
Virgin River wasn't the first acting gig the couple worked on together. In 2017, they both appeared in small roles in the film Fifty Shades Darker, the sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey. They appear in the elevator scene as bystanders attempting to ignore Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele's public rendezvous.
"I've read the books, I knew exactly what we were going in for," Walters told Cosmopolitan in a 2017 interview. Lawrence, however, was not as prepared. "My husband didn't have a clue. He's like, 'Two days with you with no kids? Yes.'"
While they may not have played a major role in the movie, Walters said that being able to spend time together was "the highlight" of the shoot. Little did she know then that a few years later, they'd be working together again—only this time in a much bigger capacity.
Does Colin Lawrence Have Kids?
Lawrence and Walters have two kids together—and one of them is already making her way into the family business.
Their daughter Biance Lawrence already has her acting resume going, with appearances in series like Supergirl and Day of the Dead as well as starring in a Lifetime TV movie with her dad: Dancing Through the Snow.
"It's really fun," she said when asked during an interview what it was like working with her dad on set. "It's my first time working with him, and I felt like it helped me more because it felt more normal. That was really nice."
Is Virgin River Renewed for Season 6?
Yes, Netflix has renewed Virgin River for a sixth season. But seeing as how Season 5 won't be available to stream until September 7, we probably won't get a Season 6 until late 2024.
