Character Profile: James Irving-McAuley

James Irving-McAuley was Laura Huntley’s first boyfriend when she was in sixth form, fifteen years ago. They broke up when she went to university and she’s had no contact with him… until now.

Randy gentleman farmer and keen horseman, James Irving-McAuley (DeepAI)

After studying classics at Oxford, James surprised everyone by returning home to help his older sister Allegra run the family’s organic farm, Tillingford Manor Farm which his father, former racing driving, Sir Jason Irving-McAuley established in the nineties.

James speaks with a plum in his mouth, as well as being born with a silver spoon in it and he’s prone to poetic turns of phrase and classical allusions, calling Laura ‘Diana’ after the hunter-goddess.

He is extremely self-confident and utterly unselfconscious and he mostly travels by horse. Verdandi, a large, caramel-coloured mare can often be seen tied up outside the Tillingford Arms.

He’s also a rampant sex addict, going after anything female that moves. He’s had a string of high-profile short-lived relationships and is currently linked in the media with ex-supermodel Guy Tillingford’s former fiancée, Sahara Seaton-Smyth.

He is fun, very attractive – with a cheeky smile – and extremely insistent, making him hard to resist, especially for Laura, who is starting to have doubts about her boyfriend, Rob Steel, and is a cheerful, bubbly girl who likes to please, finds it hard to say ‘no’ and also remembers that magical summer long ago when she always seemed to have hay in her hair.