DI Ray fans are over the moon as they gear up for the show's enthralling second season, craving all the inside scoop on star Gemma Whelan.

The eagerly anticipated second series of DI Ray premiered on Sunday, October 20, on , with two further episodes dropping this week. Viewers can anticipate the final three episodes to hit screens consecutively over the next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Gemma Whelan makes a triumphant return to the cast, reprising her role as DCI Kerry Henderson, the indispensable deputy to DI Rachita Ray, played by Parminder Nagra.

With DI Ray back in full swing, here's the lowdown on 43-year-old Gemma Whelan's life when the cameras stop rolling.

Hailing from Leeds but brought up in the Midlands, Whelan's passion for theatre comes from her family as her parents met while involved in amateur dramatics, and her brother took to the stage in plays.

Her educational journey included time at The King's High School for Girls in Warwick and the prestigious London Studio Centre. However, during her teens, Whelan encountered a harrowing battle with anorexia that led to hospitalisation.

Whelan has opened up to The Times about how battling the eating disorder has profoundly influenced her attitude towards life.

She shared: "It's part of my life. If it can help one or two people maybe feel it's not hopeless and you can get better, then yeah, I'll share it.

"I am not so private I wouldn't talk about that. Because it really shaped me."

"It formed so much of my life and the way I live my life and my personality and my approach to things."

Whelan pursued her passion for performing arts at Middlesex University, initially venturing into comedy with her character Chastity Butterworth.

During this early phase of her career, she earned recognition as the winner of a 2010 Funny Women Variety Award.

As time passed, Whelan transitioned into acting, securing notable roles in popular shows such as The Tower, Game Of Thrones, The End Of The F*****g World, and Gentleman Jack, among others.

The DI Ray star is married to Gerry Howell, a former actor and comedian who gained fame after appearing on Channel 4's 2006 reality show The Play's The Thing.

Howell also received the Best Individual Comedy Show award at the 2010 Buxton Fringe Festival for his one-man comedy-drama The Fantastic Reality of Frederick Goodge.

Whelan and Howell got married in 2017, when she was five months pregnant, and currently reside in London with their children, Frances and Freddie.

According to reports, Howell has since left the entertainment industry and now works as a psychotherapist.

Before having their first child, Whelan and her husband were uncertain about starting a family.

In an interview with You Magazine last year, she revealed that her father had implored her not to have children before he passed away.

She recalled: "He said: 'Will you promise me not to have children?'

"But only because of the state of the world that I would be bringing them into. I mean.

"The world he left behind was peachy compared to now. Seven years ago, Brexit hadn't been finalised, there was still a bit of hope and decent weather; a relative utopia.

"But I fully agreed with him. Then he passed away and the urge to make my own children was so strong. And just over a year later, Frances arrived."

DI Ray is available to watch on ITV and ITVX.