RUSTY & DANIELLE IN LOVE AGAIN!
A message of love from his ex has the star pining for a second chance
They’re the words Russell Crowe has pined for ever since he begrudgingly gave his wife Danielle Spencer a divorce – she wants him back.
That’s what Woman’s Day’s
sources are saying after Danielle posted a stunning series of pictures to Instagram recently, depicting the time they fell in love.
In the images, Danielle, 51, is seen staring into Russell’s eyes and lounging on set together as they filmed 1990’s
The Crossing.
Now, 30 years later, Danielle and Russell have been separated for seven years and divorced for two – and those close to the 56-year-old
Gladiator star say he’s never lost hope she would one day come back to him.
“Russ is still deeply in love with Danielle and his heart soared when she posted those images last week, even though her reasoning behind them was to mark a sad occasion of the loss of a mutual friend,” says a source. Danielle captioned the images: “The beautiful and talented soul George Ogilvie passed away recently. He directed me in a movie called
The Crossing and introduced me to [Russell Crowe], the man I would eventually marry and have two children with”.
HAPPY MEMORIES
“Russell is hoping her trip down memory lane reminded Danielle how amazing they are together when things are good,” says an insider.
And luckily for Russell, a source close to Danielle says that’s exactly what’s happened – despite the fact she’s been in a relationship with crime author Adam Long since 2016.
“Examining her past while she was grieving a friend was an interesting time for Danielle,” says the insider.
“She realised she has never stopped loving Russell, it’s just that the way she loves him has changed. He gave her two gorgeous sons [Charlie, 16, and Tennyson, 13]. No man will ever be able to top that for her, even Adam who she also loves dearly.
“Danielle wears her heart on her sleeve, so I’m sure she would have confessed all of this to Russell.” Russell and Danielle’s divorce was at first amicable, but he revealed how devastated he was at losing her by holding a widely publicised “The Art of Divorce auction” in 2018 to sell off all the things that meant something to them as a couple, which he held on his birthday, wedding anniversary and official marriage split date.
The Oscar winner made $3.7 million from selling a family car and piles of his own movie costumes – including his Cinderella Man jockstrap.
The source close to Russell – who is isolating at his Nana Glen property outside of Coffs Harbour – says he’s now filled with fantasies that they’ll get back together.
‘Danielle realised she has never stopped loving Russell’
LIVING IN HOPE
“Russell has never quite gotten over the split and would take her back in a heartbeat – that’s why he’s been hanging out in Australia a lot more lately rather than his place in the States, in the hope she might reconsider her feelings,” says our insider.
“He feels like that might finally be happening, though friends of Danielle’s aren’t too convinced. She’s content to care for him for the rest of her life, but she’s not sure if she’d ever get back together with him.
“Russ says the fact that she hasn’t said ‘absolutely not’ is all the encouragement he needs to keep up hope.”
He’s admitted to being “utterly miserable” during filming, after being separated from his pregnant wife Lauren and his two-year-old son Alfie due to the coronavirus pandemic. And it’s little wonder Masterchef favourite Jock Zonfrillo is so desperate to hold onto those most precious to him. The 43-year-old once battled a crippling drug addiction and faced life on the streets, before his demanding career cost him two marriages. But he finally found peace and his “happy ever after” with his third wife Lauren Fried, who he married in 2017.
By the age of 15, Jock was battling an unshakable heroin addiction before he went to Masterchef regular Marco Pierre White looking for a job. Thankfully the tough-as-nails chef took a chance on the troubled teen and hired him at his worldfamous Hyde Park Hotel.
“I’ve always said, ‘If it wasn’t for food, I would’ve died. When you’re an addict, there’s very little that’s more compelling than doing that drug. Luckily for me, I somehow fluked upon cooking,” says Jock, revealing at his lowest moments he was sleeping in the restaurant’s locker rooms as he had nowhere else to go.
NO EXCUSES
Jock continued to struggle with drug abuse until he moved to Australia in 2000 with his first wife, who he eventually divorced in 2007. According to reports, he did drugs for the last time in Heathrow Airport before boarding a flight to Sydney, saying his love of food helped him beat his addiction.
Alongside his drug use, the new judge makes no excuses for his demanding career affecting his relationships.
“Two divorces, a handful of friends because you don’t have the time to spend with them, so therefore you can count your close friends on one hand, and a deep mistrust of most people,” he said in 2014, reflecting on his time in the industry.
“That’s what you’re left with at the end of the day. Is it really that glamorous after all? I don’t think so.”
Now, Jock is married to Lauren, who is his partner in life and in business – working alongside the Scottish chef at their Orana restaurant.
The beautiful blonde, who Jock calls “a super mummy” to their little boy, is expecting their second child and Jock’s fourth – he has two daughters, Ava, 19, and Sophia, 14, from his previous marriages.
“I always wanted to be a dad. It’s a way of life. I couldn’t imagine life without kids,” he says.
As for being nervous about the impending sleepless nights and nappy changing, he can’t wait. “Sure, the first 12 months are hard when there’s no verbal communication, but the more kids I had, the more I enjoyed it!” he says.
Jock’s even desperate to be a grandad. “I’m dad to a range of kids for sure, but I’m already thinking about being a nonno [grandfather in Italian],” he says.
”I’m looking forward to having Ava and Sophia and their kids around the table for a bowl of pasta. I know it might be weird, given I’m not even quite into my mid-40s. But it’s definitely something
I think about.”
‘It’s a way of life. I couldn’t imagine life without kids’