EMMERDALE star Amy Nuttall has found love with her on-screen partner.

The Lostock actress, who plays waitress Chloe Atkinson, has revealed that she is dating Ben Freeman, better known to soap fans as love rat Scott Windsor.

Millions of viewers saw Amy, 18, and Ben, 21, cement their TV relationship with a passionate kiss.

But because the couple had kept their relationship a closely-guarded secret, even crew members did not know they had been together in real life since New Year's Eve.

Amy, who went to Bury Grammar School, admits she was wary at first of getting involved with a fellow cast member.

She said: "I'd never had a serious boyfriend before. And I was nervous about what the cast and crew might think.

"Before I started Emmerdale I was dead against mixing work and relationships -- I never wanted to go down that road."

But she admits she had a crush on pin-up Ben even before she knew she was joining the show.

"I'd always really fancied him because my friends kept pointing him out to me," she said. "When I met him for the first time he was a real gentleman -- and his looks were a bonus, too."

Amy added that there was no danger of the couple falling prey to jealousy even though both receive stacks of fan mail.

She said: "It comes with the job. Ben gets recognised an awful lot but I don't feel under threat."

Talented Amy, whose first taste of stardom came when she starred in a prestigious touring production of musical The Phantom of the Opera, admits she would eventually like to pursue a musical career.

She said: "I'd like to go into musicals if I could or try for the Phantom of the Opera film. I hear they're looking for a young Christine."

Amy's proud mother Elaine Nuttall said it had been a whirlwind few months for her daughter.

She said: "It's been an exciting time for her. As much as she loved performing on the stage, TV is a new challenge for her. But she's in love and she's very happy with her life at the moment."