Downton Abbey: A New Era 's Allen Leech Admits 'I've Had a Couple of Marriage Offers' from Fans

Downton Abbey: A New Era 's Allen Leech Admits 'I've Had a Couple of Marriage Offers' from Fans

Allen Leech's character Tom Branson ties the knot in the new Downton Abbey: A New Era. But Leech, 41, admits he's found himself at the center of fans' wedding fantasies before Tom and Lucy (Tuppence Middleton) exchanged vows.

"Over the years, I've had a couple of marriage offers," he told PEOPLE at the New York City premiere of Downton Abbey: A New Era. "I'm very happy to say I'm very happily married and expecting our second child."

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Luckily, the attention from fans doesn't bother his wife, actress Jessica Blair Herman. "She finds a really hilarious, really," Leech says. "She genuinely is finding it quite amusing."

Downton Abbey: A New Era" New York Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 15, 2022 in New York City.
Downton Abbey: A New Era" New York Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 15, 2022 in New York City.

Leech dismisses the idea of Tom Branson being the abbey's resident heartthrob. "I think that's Thomas Barrow," he says of the butler played by Robert James-Collier. "And I'm happy to a close second.

The Irish actor confesses he took from set "my last menu card from very last dining room scene" because of its significance to his character's journey over the course of the show's six seasons.

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"For my character to come all the way up and suddenly be sitting at the table, I was sitting at that dining room table just taking in what had happened over six seasons," Leech says.

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Laura CarmichaelDownton's Lady Edith —told PEOPLE she took a vintage purse from set, although, "[I] don't carry it."

Downton Abbey: A New Era" New York Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 15, 2022 in New York City.
Downton Abbey: A New Era" New York Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 15, 2022 in New York City.
Downton Abbey: A New Era" New York Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 15, 2022 in New York City.
Downton Abbey: A New Era" New York Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 15, 2022 in New York City.

Raquel Cassidy, meanwhile, hung onto "loads of wedding invitations — because there's been a lot of wedding invitations," the 54-year-old British actress, who plays Ms. Baxter, told PEOPLE. "I took all the cards. And my favorite thing that I have is the first bit of sewing that I ever did on TV. It's not very good, but I've kept it because I really did it, live action. And then I wrote a letter to Mr. Molesley."

Downton Abbey: A New Era is in theaters now.