Fox: Now I know why custody fights make men suicidal
LAURENCE Fox is campaigning for changes to child custody law after reaching his ‘lowest ebb’ during his battle with ex- wife Billie Piper.
The actor, 40, has endured a twoyear dispute with Miss Piper over Winston, nine, and Eugene, six, which concluded at the Family Division of the High Court last month.
Fox had to re-mortgage his house and use his savings to fund the case, and said he understood why custody battles lead many men to suicide.
Discussing the ordeal, the Lewis star said: ‘I was certainly in a very dark place at one point – at my lowest ebb.
‘I almost felt like I couldn’t go on. It all felt so hopeless. With divorce, you immediately lose half the time you’d spend with the kids. That in itself is a mental health crisis. But, like everything, these feelings pass and you start to feel stronger with every day.
‘Men no longer feel comfortable talking about relationships, and for the men who bottle it, it can be disastrous – they end up throwing themselves off buildings.’
The couple had been married for eight years but divorced in May 2016. After announcing their separation they stated their intention to ‘co-parent their children with the utmost mutual respect for each other’.
But after agreeing to share custody, lawyers became involved, leading to what Fox described as a ‘horrific’ twoyear ordeal.
The father, who now shares custody of his sons, is using the experience to campaign for legal change in the ‘flawed’ family court system, which he said is ‘unnecessarily adversarial’ and leaves the lawyers as the only winners.
He is calling for the introduction of no-fault divorces to avoid creating ‘victims’ in the breakdown of relationships and believes family court cases should be held in public to ensure ‘scrutiny and accountability’.
Opening up for the first time about the experience in the Mail On Sunday, Fox, who has since returned to full health, said: ‘ The emotional strain was dreadful. For six months I found it hard to sleep. I was in therapy for a while and it helped me cope with feeling raw.
‘Fortunately, I have the greatest friends in the world, and the most wonderful family. Just the thought of my gorgeous kids made me realise there was a life to be lived.
‘If I’d backed down, things would have been different. I understand why some men feel so hopeless they commit suicide and find themselves lying on the train tracks.’
He added: ‘I’m not bitter. I’m profoundly grateful I get to raise my boys and spend quality time with them. But my point is that not everyone is as privileged, and the legal system enforces that. My message is what happened to me could happen to anyone. It is time it changed.’
Miss Piper, 35, who hired Prince Charles’s divorce lawyer, Baroness Fiona Shackleton, is thought to now be in a relationship with singer Johnny Lloyd. And Fox has been in a relationship with radio DJ and television presenter Lilah Parsons, 30.
Miss Piper’s agent did not respond to a request for comment.
‘It all felt so hopeless’