Ioan Gruffudd has spoken out for the first time about the very public and sour split from estranged wife Alice Evans.
The Welsh actor, 49, and fellow actress Alice, 54, first met on the set of 102 Dalmatians in 2000 and they married seven years later in Mexico.
The former couple share two daughters; Ella, 12, and eight-year-old Elise, and were married for 13 years before Ioan announced in January 2021 that they had separated.
He filed for divorce two months later before things turned sour between the two. The pair have been embattled in legal proceedings with Ioan filing for a restraining order against his ex-wife in addition to their custody battle over their two children.
The Hornblower actor admitted that being in the public eye from a young age has helped deal with the scrutiny of his bitter divorce, which he accepts is "part and parcel" of being an actor.
Ioan said in an interview with Radio Times magazine: "It’s experience of having lived in the public eye from an early age. I was in the Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm from the age of 11, so people knew who I was in that community.
"You can’t train for that scrutiny as an actor, but it’s been part and parcel of what it is to be an actor. It’s a contract."
In February last year, Ioan won a temporary restraining order against Alice after claiming he was inundated with messages from her.
Since the announcement of their split, Alice had often used both Instagram and Twitter to make a number of allegations about her ex and share updates, including sharing text messages between Ioan and their child, on their ongoing divorce with her followers.
In August 2022, the Fantastic Four actor was granted a three year long restraining order at the Superior Court of California's Family Division. The order will expire on August 2, 2025 and the document states Alice must be "personally 'served' (given) a copy of the order".
The document also requested that Alice should not post his text messages or any communications between himself and his children on any social media account nor can she contact his employer or make negative statements about him to his employers.
Ioan filed for joint custody in July last year whilst asking for visitation rights to see his two daughters, but the former couple failed to reach an agreement despite the help of a mediator.
The actor is currently in a relationship with actress Bianca Wallace.
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