The Line of Duty star, 34, is married to American actress Tianna Chanel Flynn, who has appeared in the likes of Secret Diary Of An American Cheerleader and How To Get Away With Murder. In the first episode of the brand new fifth series of the gripping crime drama, Martin Compston’s character, DS Steve Arnott, was seen trying to move on from his romance with DS Sam Railston (played by Aiysha Hart). Swiping through on a dating app, he received a message from a stunning brunette, whose profile showed her posing with a cute dog. As “Tina Watts” flashed up on his phone screen, viewers saw Steve get the message: “Hi Steve, great messaging you. Would you like to meet for a drink?”
The woman in the picture was in fact Martin’s real life love, Tianna and the dog was the couple’s pet pooch King.
Teasing fans of the show, the official BBC One Twitter account even dropped a heavy hint about the subtle cameo, sharing a screenshot of the moment with their 1.3 million followers.
“Spot the guest appearance,” they tweeted, along with a winking emoji.
Several fans currently identified Tianna, with one commenting: “That’s his real life wife?”
“Bingo,” BBC One replied.
“Ahhh Mrs Compston!” another exclaimed, while a third added: “Loved this, had to rewind to double take! DS A very dismissive at the time too, hey she’s a keeper @martin_compston.”
Martin and Tianna have been married since 2016.
The Line of Duty favourite recently opened up about the possibility of having children, telling The Sunday Post: “When you’re married and are getting older, your priorities change.
“We’re getting to the point of maybe starting a family and your wife needs her family around her,” he added.
Scottish actor Martin said he and Tianna had moved to Las Vegas and now lived only a few streets away from her mother.
He went on to open up about having to leave his wife in the US for months on end when shooting Line of Duty.
“Anybody can relate that it’s tough being away from your missus for that long,” he said.
“And I just wish I could explain to my pitbull King. He’s my wee best pal.
“I walk him three times a day wand then suddenly you’re gone.”
After tying the knot nearly three years ago, Martin had to postpone his honeymoon in order to rush off to shoot Plain Sight, in which he played serial killer Peter Manuel.
“[Tianna’s] been very forgiving so far,” he told the Daily Mail at the time. “It’s not the ideal way to start married life but what can you do?”
Line of Duty continues tonight at 9pm on ITV.