Colin Firth Splits From Wife Of 22 Years After Cheating & Stalking Scandal
Dec. 13 2019, Updated 7:46 p.m. ET
Colin Firth and his wife of 22 years, Livia Giuggioli, have called it quits.
“Colin and Livia Firth have separated,” the pair announced in a joint statement to Entertainment Tonight on Friday, December 13. “They maintain a close friendship and remain united in their love for their children. They kindly ask for privacy. There will be no further comment.”
Firth, 59, and Giuggioli, 50, share sons Luca, 18, and Matteo, 16. The Love Actually actor is also dad to son Will, 29, from a previous relationship.
The news comes nearly two years after Giuggioli admitted to having an affair with Italian journalist Marco Brancaccia. Following their romance, the writer allegedly remained so obsessed with the film producer that he began stalking her, prompting her to file a lawsuit against him. She claimed, at the time, that Brancaccia had been harassing her with “frightening” messages.
“For obvious reasons, the Firths have never had any desire to make this matter public. A few years ago, Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate,” the spouses said in a statement to ET on March 2018. “During that time Livia briefly became involved with former friend Mr. Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited.”
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Brancaccia denied Giuggioli’s stalking allegations following her lawsuit, saying that she was making up lies out of fear he would reveal secrets about her private life.
“Livia wanted to leave Colin for me... My ‘stalking’ consisted of two messages via WhatsApp after she ended our relationship in June 2016, and an email. I wrote an email to Colin about my relationship with Livia, which I now regret sending, and she filed a complaint against me for stalking out of fear that I could go public with what she had revealed to me about her marriage and work,” he said at the time.
Firth and Giuggioli eventually reached a private settlement with Brancaccia, put the cheating incident behind them, and rekindled their romance. This year, however, their marriage again took a turn for the worse. The spouses were last spotted out together at the Green Carpet Fashion Awards in Milan, Italy, back in September. The reason for their split remains unclear.