Sean Bean has said he doesn’t regret any of his failed marriages and that he would “live it all again” as he reflects on being a “romantic”.
Bean – who has been divorced four times – married his current wife Ashley Moore in 2017.
Ahead of the premiere of Marriage, a new BBC drama which follows the ups and downs of longtime married couple Ian (Bean) and Emma (Nicole Walker), Bean told The Times he truly believed each of his marriages would last “forever”.
“I’ve obviously experienced more marriages than most people,” he said, adding that his failed relationships didn’t sway him from trying to find love.
“I suppose there is that romantic in me, otherwise I wouldn’t keep doing it,” he added. “But I don’t regret anything. I’d live it all again.”
Bean first got married in 1981, to his secondary school sweetheart Debra James. The couple divorced in 1988.
He later married fellow actor Melanie Hill in 1990. The couple had two children together, daughters Molly, 30 and Lorna, 34. Bean and Hill split in 1997.
Bean married Abigail Cruttenden in 1997. They divorced in 2000, two years after welcoming their daughter Evie, 23.
The Sharpe actor began dating Georgina Sutcliffe in 2006 and the pair later married in 2008. They divorced in 2010.
Opening up about his numerous attempts to find love, Bean credited his traditional upbringing and his parents’ long marriage.
“It’s not as though I’ve been gallivanting around,” he said.
“I suppose I could have seen how things developed, got to know them better before taking the plunge. But I didn’t because I felt strongly about all these women, otherwise I wouldn’t have married them.”
When asked whether he thought each marriage would last “forever,” Bean said: “Yes! Of course I did. It’s not something you take on lightly, is it? It’s not flippant or trivial. It’s a huge commitment.”
Marriage begins on 14 August at 9pm on BBC One.
