Ioan Gruffudd’s wife Alice Evans says she and star remain friends while discussing legal separation

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Ioan Gruffudd’s wife Alice Evans insists she and the actor ‘are still friends’ as they press ahead with discussions over a ‘legal separation’.

Last week, the actress, 49, revealed the couple were breaking up in a shock Twitter statement and accused the Welsh actor, 47, of ‘mentally torturing’ and ‘gaslighting’ her as well as claiming ‘he no longer loves me’. 

And late Saturday night, she took to Instagram to give an update on their shock split as she also declared that she has already raised their two daughters – Ella, 11, and Elsie, seven – ‘alone’ for ‘half their lives’. 

Sharing a snap of the estranged couple posing together in happier times, she also addressed questions over why she addressed their split in such a public manner. 

The Bristolian wrote: ‘Thank you for your kind comments. As for the unkind ones, I get it. It must be weird to comprehend why somebody would share their pain on social media rather than with their nearest and dearest.

‘I get that. You must think I’m an a**hole. I’m not though. I don’t have a mum, or a dad. I don’t have any close friends in LA. I’ve looked after my kids for half their lives alone. My husband knows that.

‘We are indeed discussing legal separation, but we are still friends. You can say what you want about me being an attention seeker but you know it’s not true. You just want a reason to put me down. Please – go ahead. I’m impenetrable ❤️’

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Alice has thrown herself into a gruelling health and fitness regime to help take her mind off the breakdown of her marriage.

A source told The Sun On Sunday: ‘Alice has consulted several dietitians and personal trainers and wants to overhaul her diet and exercise regime to feel good about herself and rebuild confidence.

‘She’s been left hurt and devastated by the ordeal, but she’s strong.’ 

Her post comes days after she shared a heartbreaking update on her marital woes and admitted she ‘still loves’ the actor. 

On Friday morning, she took to Instagram to share a duo of images depicting broken hearts, including one reading ‘game over’, alongside a caption in which she stated she was fighting against his plans and detailing her ‘excruciating pain’. 

In her post, she wrote: ‘Nothing to say excerpt THANK YOU for all the loving and encouraging messages. I never thought this would happen to us…

‘I am still fighting against it, because I love our kids, and I still love him, but something has happened inside his head and whatever it is, I don’t see him coming back to us. The pain is excruciating but I am stronger than an ox…

‘Though I weep all day when my kids aren’t looking, at night I add up figures and plan futures for us and you know what? I will do those two angels right if it’s all I ever do.! And Emma, of course, if she PROMISES to stop jumping everybody! Your Alice’. 

It was reported last week that the duo had spent lots of time having ‘heated and intense talks’ in their garden. 

A source told The Sun that the duo, who share two daughters, seem to have ‘made some progress’ after have extensive discussions at their LA home and even saying that the family became ‘playful’ and were ‘laughing’ at points.

A source told the publication: ‘Ioan has been at home with Alice over the last few days and they spoke for a long time out in the garden.

‘It looked intense and heated at times, but later much more playful. They were laughing and taking pictures and their kids were with them.

‘It seemed as though they may have made some progress — but, obviously, it has been very frosty for some time especially with her Twitter posts.’ 

It comes after Ioan broke his silence on his ‘extremely difficult’ split from wife Alice on Saturday, days after it was revealed via Twitter.

Still wearing his wedding ring, the Welsh actor stopped to briefly to speak with photographers as he went grocery shopping solo at Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles.

Addressing the split, he said: ‘Look, as I said before, it’s an extremely difficult time for the family, our thoughts are with our children obviously right now and I’d really respect a little bit of privacy right now, thank you.’  

News of the split came following Ioan’s return from Australia, where he has been shooting season three of Harrow alongside Ella Newton, 30, and Anna Lise Phillips, 46, who plays his ex-wife.

Ioan, who plays a a forensic pathologist in the drama, told an Australian publication how he developed a close bond with his co-star Ella while filming the series in the country.

Speaking of his ‘bond’ with Ella, Ioan told an Australian newspaper: ‘I’m so lucky. We bonded almost immediately, so there’s a lot of respect there.’

Ella, who has a boyfriend, plays Ioan’s daughter in the Australian drama. There is no suggestion Ioan has been unfaithful to his wife.

Last Friday Ioan and Alice were reportedly seen together in Los Angeles, putting on a united front. 

The Sun reports that Ioan said of Ella: ‘Ella — well, look, everyone gets branded ‘someone to watch’, but from working with her, she certainly is.

‘You can’t take your eyes off her when she’s on screen. She’s so raw because she’s so young and inexperienced. But she’s eager to learn, eager to listen.’

MailOnline have contacted representatives for comment. There is no evidence to suggest Ioan was ever unfaithful. 

Ioan has spent three long spells in Australia filming the TV drama Harrow.  

He was in Brisbane over the summer of 2020, making the third series with his co-stars. When he returned, all seemed well —on the surface. 

Alice posted a picture of the two of them cuddling up reunited in August with the fond caption: ‘He’s back and he’s grumpier than ever (shhh!).’ 

It comes after Ioan’s mother has insisted ‘no one else’ was involved in the breakdown of his 13-year marriage to wife Alice.

Last week, Ioan and Alice released a joint statement earlier this week, insisting they were ‘committed to their children’. 

The united front followed an extraordinary 24 hours, which saw a series of tweets posted by the actress – and subsequently deleted – claiming her husband was leaving the family and she was being ‘gaslit and mentally tortured’. 

Alice also accused Ioan of hacking her Twitter account to delete the original tweets stating he was leaving her and their children because he ‘no longer loves’ her. 

A statement released to MailOnline from the couple reads: ‘As you can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for our family and we remain committed to our children. Thank you for respecting our privacy.’ 

Alice took to Twitter to share the ‘sad news’, stating Ioan said he ‘no longer loves her’ and has left her young daughters feeling ‘very sad’.

The original statement was later deleted, with Alice alleging that it was her estranged husband who had taken to her account and removed the message. 

She posted another Twitter message, reading: ‘Hi there. I didn’t delete the tweet from a few hours ago about him leaving. He did. From my account… 

‘And hell yes when I am being gaslit and mentally tortured then hell yes I will wash my linen in public’, however this tweet was also deleted later on. 

After the now-deleted message, she was then criticised by a follower, who penned: ‘Seems like a weird thing to be posting on Twitter’.  

In response, in a message which remains on the page [at time of publication], Alice responded writing: ‘Why? I have lost my mind’.

One follower then penned: ‘I did the same when this happened to me. I think it’s how one acknowledges there’s no returning to what existed before. Accepting it by stating it publicly helps you to recognize the impossibility [of] reconciliation.’ 

She then responded: ‘This is exactly why. And than you. Six months of harrassment: yes/no/maybe. I cannot live like this anymore’. 

In the original shock statement, Alice penned: ‘Sad news. My beloved husband/soulmate of 20 years, Ioan Gruffudd, has announced he is to leave his family, starting next week. 

‘Me and our young daughters girls are very confused and sad. We haven’t been given a reason except that he ‘no longer loves me’. I’m so sorry.’ 

Ioan’s father claimed his 13-year marriage to Alice had been in trouble for some time prior to their split.

Peter Griffiths, 72, said news of the couple’s separation did not come as a ‘complete surprise’ and that he had been ‘aware’ of problems between the pair. 

Speaking to MailOnline from his home in Pentyrch near Cardiff, South Wales, the retired headteacher said: ‘As a family you are aware of these things going on. 

‘I have spoken to Ioan and we are of course incredibly sad but I do not want to go into too much detail. We are very sad, particularly for our two granddaughters. It is just very sad, but these things do happen and marriages do end.’  

In a telling sign, Ioan spoke of their relationship struggling in February 2020.

He told The Guardian: ‘I think we’ve struggled the past four years, making time for each other because physically we’re apart.’ 

The couple’s daughters were conceived through IVF after discovering Alice had a low antral follicle count at the age of 38. 

They welcomed their first child after one round of IVF, while their youngest girl arrived after eight rounds of treatment – which costs upwards of £7,000. 

Alice wrote in the Daily Mail in 2016: ‘Extremely high blood pressure earned me total bed rest for the last two months of the [first] pregnancy and then there I was, in a hospital bed, sweating and screaming and writhing about – just like on television.

‘A mere 40 hours later Ella arrived, a 6lb 2oz lobster-red baby-alien. Instantly none of my other plans mattered. This was the thing I should have done years ago. The only thing. It was as close to being in heaven as I’d ever get.

‘This time our first cycle failed. As did our second. Our third didn’t even produce any eggs to fertilise. Our fourth gave us a few to freeze. It wasn’t working. 

‘Finally, physically, mentally (not to mention financially) depleted, we decided sadly that cycle eight would be our last. Elsie Marigold Evans-Griffith was born on September 13, 2013. 

‘She has her dad’s big brown eyes but not his unfeasibly long tongue, thank goodness. I know how lucky I am. I won the lottery. I get to kiss goodnight to the two most precious human beings I’ve ever met. My goal now is to get the word out. Don’t wait until it’s too late.’

The couple met on the set of 102 Dalmatians in 2000, when Alice was in a relationship with Pablo Picasso’s grandson Olivier.

The pair became engaged six years later after she gave him an ultimatum about their relationship, and tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Mexico in September 2007.  Ioan previously gushed about their strong bond and ‘fantastic relationship’. 

He stated in an interview with Who: ‘When we first got engaged, there were a lot of people who were like, ”Oh actors who are married can get quite difficult because there’s too many egos involved.” But we’ve just had a fantastic relationship.’  

In 2017, Alice spoke about a ‘sinister’ encounter she had with disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, just hours after Ioan screen-tested for one of his movies in Cannes in 2002.

Alice claimed the producer propositioned her and invited her to join him in a hotel bathroom.

Ioan shared his support for as he said in an interview with The Sunday Post in 2018: ‘I just wanted to hold her hand and walk her through it. She’s an extraordinary woman, fiercely strong and bright and one of the bravest people I know.’

He added to The Guardian last year: ‘I was very proud of Alice. Because women were not being believed.

‘She wanted to say, ‘No, this is definitely his modus operandi. This is how he behaves. I’ve witnessed it.’ So she wanted to present the case, help bolster the case.’  

Alice was born in New Jersey to British parents, teacher Janet and university lecturer and mathematician David.

She was raised in Bristol with her brothers Anthony and Philip, and temporarily worked in Paris after studying Italian and French at the University College London. 

Alice frequently updates fans with images of her family and credits Piers Morgan’s journalist wife Celia Walden, actress Joanne Froggatt and socialite Lady Victoria Hervey as her close friends.  

Ioan’s parents were also educators, and the Amazing Grace star grew up in a Protestant non-conformist household with his younger siblings Alun, 45, and Siwan, 40, in Cardiff. 

He first featured in Welsh TV film Austin at the age of 13, before he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and appeared in TV shows and films such as Poldark, Titanic and Hornblower.

During the early stages of his career, the  star lived with fellow actor Matthew Rhys – who served as best man at his wedding – for nearly 10 years. 

Ioan is best known for his roles in Fantastic 4, W. and Horrible Bosses, while Alice has starred in The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Dangerous Parking.