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Martin Freeman’s Rare Confession: Inside His 23-Year Age Gap Romance & Family Secrets

BBG News

During an interview with The Jonathan Ross Show, Martin Freeman seldom discussed aspects of his personal family life.

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, aged 53, along with his girlfriend Rachel Benaissa, a French actress, have been in a relationship for approximately three years. However, they seldom make appearances in public settings together.

Martin shares two teenage children Joe, 18, and Grace, 16, with his ex-wife Amanda Abbington, 51.

On Saturday, you can catch me gushing about my thrilling adventure at a Sherlock-themed escape room, where I stepped into the very shoes of John Watson, all set to unfold on ITV’s chat with host Jonathan!

Martin revealed that he and his family did not escape in good time: ‘It did take us a while. 

‘I attended an outing with my partner, our two children… It wasn’t the classic Sherlock Holmes portrayal by Conan Doyle, but rather the BBC adaptation. I admit that it felt a bit peculiar to attend something solo… However, my kids insisted it would be enjoyable. Indeed, it was quite entertaining!’

Following Romesh Ranganathan’s query about the reason behind his visit, Martin jokingly responds: ‘I could hear my voice in it… After a week without seeing or hearing myself enough, I felt compelled… and I wasn’t obligated, I simply wanted to linger inside longer.’

Martin and Rachel appear as an unshakeable powerhouse duo in the entertainment industry, yet manage to maintain such a private relationship that it often slips the minds of fans that they are actually a couple.

For nearly half a decade now, I’ve been in a loving partnership. This relationship blossomed following a separation from my previous partner of sixteen years, Amanda Abbington, who openly acknowledged that she struggled emotionally post our split in 2016. Our parting was due to the fact that we simply found it impossible to continue living together harmoniously anymore.

It’s not certain when Martin rekindled his relationship with Rachel, but they were first seen together in 2020. Rachel seems to have developed a close connection with Martin’s kids, Joe and Grace.

In 2021, Martin made their romantic involvement with the French actress from Toulouse known to the public. However, this couple prefers to keep their relationship private, and as a result, she recently removed her Instagram account, providing fans only occasional peeks into their love life.

Rachel typically takes on the role of a supportive partner, frequently accompanying Martin at premieres for his films and television shows – such as their recent appearance together at the Olivier Awards on Sunday.

However, a TikTok video posted by Martin’s daughter, Grace, reveals that Rachel is undeniably integrated into the family. The video showcases Rachel dancing harmoniously to ‘She’s The Brightest Star’ from Martin’s holiday movie Nativity, alongside Joe and their adorable dachshunds.

She labeled the video as “Merry Christmas,” with the caption hinting at her father’s role in the popular movie.

In the popular BBC series “Normal People,” Rachel took on a minor character, that of an unspecified teaching assistant. She shared screen time with well-known actors Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Apart from her on-screen appearances in the Netflix movie “Irish Wish” with Lindsay Lohan and the sitcom “This Way Up” by Aisling Bea, she has also played characters in advertisements for brands like Heineken, Santander, and Dublin Airport.

It’s highly probable that her link to Ireland stems from her time spent studying acting at the Gaiety School in Dublin, which has seen the development of talents like Colin Farrell, Aidan Turner, and Olivia Wilde.

Besides her acting career, Rachel also dabbles in scriptwriting. She even reached the second place in a prestigious TV pilot screenplay competition, Outstanding Screenplay.

Her writing style is described as seamlessly combining dramatic elements with a touch of grim wit, and at present, she’s busy penning the script for a dark comedy-horror television series titled “SELF CARE GIRLIE.

For the first time, they were seen together as a pair during the grand opening night gala screening of Best Sellers at the Raindance Film Festival, held at The Dorchester.

As for Martin’s ex partner Amanda, she has insisted that they are on good terms and remain friends.

Yet, some reports indicate that it was challenging for her to witness him thriving with a significantly younger partner, all the while his professional life continued to flourish.

Reports have hinted at the difficulty she faced in accepting his new relationship with a much younger woman, as his career continued its upward trajectory.

In March 2023, Amanda openly shared that following their challenging separation, she contemplated taking her own life due to intense self-loathing.

During an interview on the Full Disclosure podcast, Amanda shared that during a challenging time in her life, suicide seemed like a real possibility to her. She also mentioned that a recent argument with her daughter had led her to contemplate a similar idea again.

She shared: ‘I parted ways with Martin, which made me see that I required some self-improvement as I was quite disorganized. I didn’t like who I was.

In a rather amusing turn of events, I found myself in an unexpected spat with my dear daughter the other day – something I hadn’t shared with anyone, not even my trusted therapist. The source of our disagreement? She was running late for school due to misplacing her uniform. Quite an ordinary issue, yet it seemed to escalate rather dramatically.

Ultimately, I ended up driving her to school instead of letting her take the bus, and while I was in the car, I tried scolding her, but she wasn’t responding because she’s a fifteen-year-old who’s dealing with a lot right now.

She’s a young woman; I’m her mother. Overwhelming anger and worry have been consuming me. As I was driving, these feelings were swirling in my thoughts, and for the first time since I began therapy six years ago, I found myself contemplating suicide.

‘Previously, I often thought that if you disappoint others, hurt someone, fall short of your potential, fail as a parent, or underperform as an actor, you could alleviate all these problems by taking your own life.’

Amanda elaborated that contemplating suicide was something she had considered in her past, but it had been over six years since she last entertained such thoughts – roughly around the time of her split from Martin.

She added: “On multiple occasions throughout my life, that choice felt authentic to me. It meant I wouldn’t have to be a terrible person anymore, as I wouldn’t need to be around any longer.

‘And I thought about that and I thought, “Oh my God I haven’t thought about that in six years”.’

Previously, it was made known that Amanda hid the fact she parted ways with Martin for six months due to their incompatibility rendering them unable to coexist.

In conversation with The Sunday Times magazine, she revealed that they decided not to disclose their breakup to anyone. Only a select group of individuals were informed due to the necessity of handling hotel arrangements and similar logistical matters.

It required six months for its release, with a significant portion of that time spent on the production of Sherlock. During this period, we maintained our professionalism and focused on creating the series while being respectful towards one another.

Despite maintaining a strong friendship, we’ve come to the realization that living together is no longer an option. We continue to respect and appreciate each other as talented individuals in our respective acting careers. He remains a fantastic person, but our lifestyles have evolved in different directions.

In 2000, they crossed paths for the first time on the movie set titled “Men Only” and subsequently formed an unbeatable team as characters John and Mary Watson.

Currently, Amanda is in a romantic relationship with the ex-daredevil Jonathan Goodwin, who is 43 years old. They had been close friends for quite some time prior to starting their romantic involvement.

But after just two months together, Jonathan ended up in a wheelchair for life, as he was tragically crushed during a stunt.

In the year 2021, during a practice session for America’s Got Talent: Extreme, the escape artist endured severe, life-altering injuries when two vehicles suspended above him accidentally collided, compressing him in between.

Afterwards, Jonathan collapsed onto the ground, striking his head. Subsequently, he was transported by helicopter to the hospital for emergency surgery.

In the aftermath of the accident, the acrobat sustained multiple fractures in his ribs, legs, and shoulders, severe third-degree burns, damage to internal organs, and unfortunately, he lost one of his kidneys on the left side.

He is now suing America’s Got Talent bosses over the stunt that left him in a wheelchair for life.

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2025-04-10 22:39

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