Emily Symons: Age, Partner, and TV Career in 2025

Some soap characters feel like old friends, and for millions of viewers Marilyn Chambers is exactly that. Emily Symons has played the beloved Home and Away regular on and off since 1989, and she also spent eight years as Emmerdale’s Louise Appleton. Through it all, she has kept her private life close to her chest — which is why questions about her partner, her son, and what she’s doing now keep coming up.

Date of birth: 10 August 1969 · Age (2025): 55 · Place of birth: Sydney, Australia · Occupation: Actress · Known for: Home and Away, Emmerdale · Instagram: @emilysymons_

Emily Symons at a glance

Seven rows, one pattern: this is a career built on two long soap runs rather than a string of short-lived roles.

The implication: the résumé is compact because the roles were long — and longevity, not volume, is her real credential.

Does Emily Symons have a partner?

New Idea, the Australian weekly magazine that has followed her relationships for years reports that Emily Symons is not currently married. Her two earlier marriages — to Nick Lipscombe from 1992 to 1994 and to Lorenzo Smith from 2003 to 2005 — both ended long ago.

Unmarried, though, is not the same as openly single. No current partner has been publicly confirmed in the entertainment profiles cited for this article, and Symons herself rarely addresses the subject.

• Marital status: unmarried, per New Idea
• First marriage: Nick Lipscombe, 1992–1994
• Second marriage: Lorenzo Smith, 2003–2005
• Current partner: not confirmed in any cited profile

The pattern: the record is closed. Symons appears to have decided long ago that her romantic life belongs to her, not to a storyline.

How many children does Emily Symons have?

Emily Symons has one child, a son named Henry Richard Francis Jackson. WHO magazine, the Australian celebrity title, reported that she gave birth to him on 3 August 2015 and that the pregnancy followed IVF treatment.

The same WHO profile described Henry as nine years old in 2024, which lines up exactly with that birth date.

• Name: Henry Richard Francis Jackson
• Born: 3 August 2015
• Conception: IVF, per WHO magazine

The catch: Henry is the one part of her private life Symons has allowed reporters to confirm. Even then, she shares only glimpses.

Who is the father of Emily Symons’ child?

Henry’s father is Paul Jackson, according to New Idea, the Australian weekly magazine. The same outlet reported that Symons and Jackson split in 2016, not long after Henry’s birth.

That is where the public record ends. Jackson is not a public figure, and no major outlet has published more than his name and his connection to Symons.

• Father: Paul Jackson
• Status: split in 2016
• Public profile: minimal

The implication: a name without a face is almost as private as no name at all.

What is Emily Symons doing now?

As of 2025, Symons is still working — and still attached to the role that made her famous.

Recent TV roles

• Apple TV’s streaming profile still lists Marilyn Chambers as her signature credit, and she has reprised the role in the years since her 2010 return.
• No new projects outside Home and Away have been announced in the cited profiles.

The pattern: for a veteran soap actress, that stability is the point — she does not need to audition elsewhere because Summer Bay keeps writing for her.

Social media presence

• Instagram handle: @emilysymons_ (Instagram, official profile)
• Returned to Instagram in December 2023 after a four-month absence (7NEWS, Australian news site)
• Her feed skews toward Home and Away set life, with occasional snaps of Henry.

The December 2023 return made entertainment headlines simply because she had been quiet for four months. That tells you everything about how contained her public life has become.

The implication: Symons has found a way to stay famous without feeding the algorithm — and the algorithm keeps complaining about it.

What TV shows has Emily Symons appeared in?

Her filmography is built around two franchises, one in Australia and one in the UK. Everything else is supporting detail.

Home and Away

• Known for playing Marilyn Chambers — a role she originated in 1989 and returned to in 2010 after her UK stint (Apple TV, streaming profile)

Emmerdale

• Played Louise Appleton from 2001 to 2008 (Radio Times, UK TV magazine)

The pattern: two roles, two decades, one consistent career trajectory.

Related reading: Jason Donovan: Neighbours Star’s Life and Career

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