Joanne Froggatt and Ioan Gruffudd star in new drama, Liar

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Since early 2021, actors Ioan Gruffudd, 49, and Alice Evans, 54, have been embroiled in a bitter public battle over custody and their divorce after more than two decades as a couple. The Forever star has finally broken his silence on the situation after his new girlfriend, Bianca Wallace, 30, declared on Instagram while discussing the tumultuous past year: “Thanks and good riddance!”

The former couple had been together since meeting on the set of 102 Dalmatians in 2000 and had been married for almost 14 years when they announced their split.

The statement shocked their fans, but Alice had been the first one to break the news over social media in a since-deleted tweet.

She wrote: “My beloved husband/soulmate of 20 years, Ioan Gruffudd, has announced he is to leave his family, starting next week. Me and our young girls are very confused and sad. We haven’t been given a reason except that he ‘no longer loves me’.”

Throughout their public split, Alice has continued in a similar vein, updating her social media followers with emotional news during each step of the painful process.

Ioan, on the other hand, has remained uncharacteristically quiet until now, as he spoke with Radio Times for their latest magazine.

The actor explained that having been in the public eye from a very young age gave him the necessary experience to survive under the public scrutiny during the past two years.

He said: “You can’t train for that scrutiny as an actor, but it’s been part and parcel of what it is to be an actor. It’s a contract.”

Ioan’s new statement comes shortly after Bianca made what many fans believed was a thinly-veiled swipe at Alice over Instagram, where the latter has often chosen to vent her marital woes.

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A post shared by Bianca Wallace (@iambiancawallace)

Sharing a sizzling snap of herself in a risque bikini, Bianca wrote: “Just trying to find this light again… and that muscle tone!!

“This is the energy that I am taking into 2023 with me.

“Shall we say thanks and good riddance to 2022?” with a winking emoji.

Since filing for divorce in early 2021, Ioan and Alice have been entangled in a seemingly vicious custody battle over their two young daughters, Ella, 12, and Elise, eight.

In August 2022, the Hornblower actor reportedly won a three-year-long restraining order against Alice after claiming he had been bombarded with messages from her.

The Blackball actress has often used Twitter and Instagram to vent, share updates, and make a number of allegations against her former husband, which also included showing “proof” such as court documents and communications she had received.

According to The Mirror, the restraining order requested that Alice stop showing Ioan’s text messages and other communications between him and his children on social media and that she cannot contact his employer or make negative statements about him to his employers.

When Ioan’s new relationship with Bianca went public seven months after his split, Alice accused the actor of having a three-year-long affair.

Minutes after the new couple shared their first snap together on Instagram, Alice wrote on social media: “So it turns out that my husband, after two years of telling me I’m a bad person and I’m not exciting and he no longer wants to have sex with me and he just wants to be on set abroad… has been in a relationship for three years behind all our backs. Good luck, Bianca.”

Express.co.uk contacted representatives for Ioan about these allegations at the time.

As the pandemic continued, with lockdowns rampant, Alice returned to Twitter, accusing Ioan of completely “ghosting” her since he “suddenly decided to end our marriage”.

The latest news from court, attended by the Daily Mail, revealed both Alice and Ioan may be having money woes due to the cost of the divorce.

Ioan reportedly requested the judge to make Alice agree to selling their LA home where she has been living and neither party currently has the funds to cover their missed mortgage payments, reportedly totalling at $15,271 (£12,390).

In their custody battle, Alice has publicly accused Ioan of lying multiple times, including showing his court declaration on Instagram, calling it “utterly disgusting” and “packed with lies” about who was the primary caregiver in the household.

The current issue of Radio Times featuring Ioan Gruffudd’s interview is available now.

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