Olivia Colman shares the secret to her happy 25-year marriage

After 25 years together, Olivia Colman believes the secret to a happy marriage is surprisingly simple.

The Oscar-winning actress has opened up about her relationship with husband Ed Sinclair, revealing the couple try not to air grievances "in the heat of the moment".

The pair met as students at Cambridge University, where they worked together on a Footlights production of Table Manners, and married in 2001. They now have three children together.

Reflecting on the advice that has helped their relationship endure, the Fleabag star told The Daily Mail: "Be kind to each other."

She added: "I heard one person who had been married about 50 years say, 'Sometimes it's the things you don't say,' which was very wise. Not everyone will agree with that, so wait for the right moment to bring it up in a nice way."

With husband Ed Sinclair, who has produced a number of the Oscar winner’s recent films

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She continued: "I'm not a conflict person, nor is my husband, but we've learned over the years to definitely try and talk about, 'That thing on Tuesday, can we talk about that?' in a calm way and then it works well."

"Find a nice gentle time to say, 'Can we talk about that thing?' And often it is, 'What thing?", but if one of us has been upset by it then we'll talk it through. For some people it works in the heat of the moment, and that doesn't work for me."

Sinclair is a producer best known for his work on a number of Colman's projects, including the TV series Landscapers and films Wicked Little Letters, The Roses and Wicker.

Together at the 2019 Oscars

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"Throughout my whole life, I've had arguments with people where I've always sort of felt nonbinary,” she said. "I’ve never felt massive feminine in my being female.

She continued: "I've always described myself to my husband as a gay man. And he goes, ‘Yeah I get that’. And so I do feel at home and at ease. I don't really spend a whole lot of time with people who are very staunchly heterosexual.”