Oh, Mr D arcy!
COLIN FIRTH’S MARRIAGE CRISIS
It sounds like the complicated plot of one of Colin Firth’s romantic comedies: Loving couple take a break from their marriage, wife has fling with her childhood friend, couple reunite, friend turns into stalker.
Only it’s in real life, and it is not funny.
It’s been revealed that Oscar- winner Colin and his wife Livia Giuggioli went through a rocky period in their relationship which resulted in them separating in 2015 for more than a year.
While they were living apart, Livia, a film producer and environmental activist, had a brief romance with Italian journalist Marco Brancaccia.
They’d been friends since she was a teenager, and Marco had spent time with Livia and Colin, even celebrating New Year’s Eve with them once at their home.
According to a statement released by Colin (57) and Livia (48), the couple decided to give their marriage another chance and got back together in 2016, but Marco then “carried out a frightening campaign of harassment over several months, much of which is documented. For obvious reasons, the Firths have never had any desire to make this matter public.”
The pair, who have filed a complaint against Marco, allege that he sent them texts and
‘In the end someone will have to pay for this. I’m shocked. It’s a horrible story’
emails and made threatening phone calls. He also emailed photos of himself with Livia to Colin and threatened to write articles about them for Ansa, the Italian publication he works for, they say.
However, Marco (55) denies that he stalked them and maintains the accusations are a case of “a famous couple trying to cover up her love affair.
“My ‘stalking’ consisted of two messages via WhatsApp after she ended our relationship in June 2016, and an email,” he says.
“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 revealed to me about her marriage and work.”
Marco says Colin responded to his email, writing, “You have made me suffer, but I know you are suffering too.”
Over the course of a year
Livia sent Marco “hundreds of message of love, photos and videos, even a diary,” according to the journalist. “She wanted to leave Colin for me,” he claims. “I fell in love completely with Livia. I felt she was the woman of my life. I loved her very, very, much.”
Marco says he and Livia made trips to places such as Italy, Brazil, London and New York to spend time together. “We would try to see each other as often as as we could as it was a real love affair for the two of us.”
The whole situation is now a mess, says Marco, who is facing possible criminal charges. “In the end someone will have to pay for this. I’m shocked, it’s a horrible story.”
The news that The King’s Speech star and his wife of 20 years, who have two sons, Luca (17) and Matteo (14), had parted company came as a shock – they had been seen as having one of the most stable marriages in show business.
They met in 1995 in Colombia, on the set of the BBC series Nostradamus. Livia was working as a production assistant, while Colin was one of the biggest heartthrobs in the world, following his portrayal of Mr Darcy in the celebrated TV version of Pride and Prejudice.
Colin had previously been in a long-term partnership with American actress Meg Tilly. The couple had a son together – Will Firth (27) who is now an actor – and for several years spent much of their time living in a log cabin deep in the woods in rural Canada. Colin’s career took him back to London, and they went on to separate amicably after five years together.
After getting to know
Italian beauty Livia while in Colombia, Colin described it as like “meeting someone that you just feel you are the other half to”.
They married in a romantic ceremony in a 13th-century church set on a hilltop among forests and vineyards near her home in Citta della Pieve in Italy. The reception was a picnic held in an olive grove on an estate owned by Livia’s family.
They share a passion for environmental causes and charity work, and there was never any hint their marriage was in trouble.
Their separation was a closely guarded secret and only came to light after they filed charges against Marco.
A friend of the pair says they have managed to patch up their differences, despite everything that has happened.
“They got back together, and things are fine. They have a good marriage. It’s not uncommon for a marriage to go through periods where it seems stale, especially with children involved. But these two have a solid commitment, are on the same level, and worked through it.”