After years of heartbreak, public scrutiny and quiet endurance, Lisa Armstrong appears to be stepping into a long-awaited new chapter — one defined not by loss, but by renewal.
The Strictly Come Dancing make-up artist, 49, is said to have fallen “head over heels” for actor Grant Kilburn, 34, after being introduced through close friends Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton. The pair reportedly met in October after Lisa attended a performance of 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Theatre Royal in Brighton, where Grant appears alongside Stacey and Kevin in the touring production.
Those close to Lisa say the connection was immediate. Despite busy schedules — Lisa working behind the scenes on Strictly and Grant travelling with the show — the pair have quietly grown closer in recent weeks, choosing to keep their relationship low-key.
Friends say the change in Lisa has been unmistakable.
“She’s smiling again,” one source shared. “After everything she’s been through, it’s wonderful to see her rediscover joy.”
Earlier this year, Lisa hinted at the emotional toll of recent years in a reflective social media post, writing:
“You spent 2024 in survival mode. 2025 is your time to rise, rebuild, and thrive.”
Now, it seems those words are beginning to ring true.
Her journey to this point has been anything but easy. Following the end of her 23-year relationship with Ant McPartlin — including 12 years of marriage — Lisa endured a series of personal blows: the collapse of a later relationship, a devastating house fire, and years spent rebuilding her life largely out of the public eye.
While Ant moved on — remarrying in 2021 and later becoming a father — Lisa faced her own milestones alone, navigating grief, disappointment and resilience in equal measure.
What makes this new relationship different, friends say, is a shared understanding of adversity. Grant has spoken openly about surviving a stroke at just 23, and the years of anxiety and depression that followed. His long road back to health — and his commitment to mental health advocacy — has quietly bonded the pair.
“Neither of them is rushing,” a source explained. “They’ve both been shaped by what they’ve survived. That’s given them patience — and perspective.”
Lisa’s past with Ant included fertility struggles, the pressures of fame, addiction battles and intense tabloid attention, culminating in a painful split in 2018. The years that followed were marked by legal negotiations, public scrutiny and the slow, private work of emotional recovery.
Now, with her career continuing to thrive and her heart cautiously open again, Lisa is beginning to imagine a future shaped by peace rather than pain.
Those closest to her say that for the first time in years, she is laughing, planning — and allowing herself to believe in possibility once more.
Not a fairytale.
But something real.
