Hale residents and business-owners Hanna Miraftab and Martin Kinsella are the newest additions to hit TV show Real Housewives of Cheshire

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I’ve known Martin Kinsella and his fiancée Hanna Miraftab for a while now, and when I heard that they were joining hit TV show Real Housewives of Cheshire I was quite surprised. Not because they’re not a great fit for this feisty, fun and high fashion show, but because I wondered how on earth they were going to fit it into their already packed schedules!

Hanna and Martin live in a beautiful apartment in Bowdon, a space converted from one of the huge old properties of the merchant class of the 1800s, and with the beautiful high ceilings, intricate plasterwork cornicing and big windows you associate with the period. They met a decade ago, when both were studying dentistry at Liverpool University, though it was a slow-burn romance, with friendship coming first, before a surprise meeting triggered a coupe-de-foudre that took them both by surprise in 2017, blossoming love and Martin’s über-romantic proposal in New York, when he presented Hanna with a diamond ring he had had designed and made just for her, earlier this year.

‘We were in a classic New York venue, The Monkey Bar,’ says Hanna, positively glowing as she recounts the story. ‘We were there for my 30th birthday. We ordered oysters and champagne and then Martin went down on one knee and started showing me photos on his phone! He showed me a row of pictures of a ring being made, and it wasn’t till he got to the last one and pulled out the actual ring that the penny dropped! The whole restaurant got involved – it was so lovely!

As well as his face and body aesthetics clinic in Hale, Re-enhance, Martin runs a clinic in Yorkshire, London and Majorca, plus regular visits to Cornwall. He’s focussed, energetic, driven and successful, none of which comes as a surprise when you learn that Martin first fully qualified as a doctor before taking himself to Liverpool to train as a dentist. In recent years Martin has grown fascinated by the potential for using bio-identical hormones in HRT, which is not simply for women entering menopause, but can serve a purpose for men and women of all ages.

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He says: ‘I have invested in state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and established a compound pharmacy, with an in-house pharmacist, at my clinic in Hale. I can create a wholly bespoke treatment plan for each client, using bio-identical hormones, to restore their hormone balance to where it would have been at a younger age.’

Once Martin starts to talk about his work with bio-identical hormones, his passion is clear; he talks with intensity and purpose, the hours and hours of study he has put in quite obvious. This is surely another reason why he and Hanna are such a good fit – just ask her about her work with children and watch her go. Talk about “light blue touch-paper and stand well back!”

‘25% of children starting school have tooth decay!’ Hanna exclaims, ‘and the majority has been untreated! During my vocational year I worked in a dental practice in a high needs area and I saw countless numbers of children coming in for, sometimes multiple, extractions. And this would be their first experience of going to the dentist! They were only brought in once they were in pain. It was heartbreaking. I also did six months on a paediatric surgical ward. Did you know that the the highest number of admissions for a general anaesthetic for a child under nine is for teeth extraction, and the mortality rate for a child in general anaesthesia is 1:100,000? It’s a preventable disease and it costs the NHS millions every year. It’s all down to awareness – hidden sugars in foods and drinks, even ‘healthy’ snacks like yoghurts and smoothies can be so bad for your teeth.

‘For me this is such an important issue and I was so grateful that the producers of Real Housewives gave me the opportunity to get this across, when they filmed a special children’s clinic I held at my St Helens practice this summer.’

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The show films for 12 weeks at a time, so Hanna and Martin are currently on a break until the New Year, but that doesn’t mean any downtime for the couple, they have a wedding to plan and a home to finish – and oh yes, Hanna has just taken ownership of her own dental clinic, Kiln Lane Dental, in St Helens.

‘I dreamed of owning my own dental practice even when I was at university,’ she says. ‘I worked there for three years and then when the owner decided to retire, I went for it! It’s been mad, this summer, and I couldn’t have done it without the support of the wonderful team there.’

Now I understand what the term power-couple means; these two hard-working and dedicated professionals are the perfect example of what can be achieved when ambition and energy coincide – so very Cheshire!