An actor from England named Charles Dance explained that his marriage to Joanna Haythorn was over because he gave in to some temptations.
The Game Of Thrones actor, 77, wedded Haythorn in 1970 and they had two children, Oliver, 50, and Rebecca, 44, before divorcing in 2004.
‘Most of it was a great marriage, but unfortunately, I gave in to some temptations along the way and that's why the marriage ended because of my behavior,
‘I eventually had to admit,’ the four-time Emmy nominee revealed, who played villainous Tywin Lannister in the hit HBO fantasy series.
Explaining his relationship with his wife at the time, he added: ‘Because we were living in Somerset, in this huge place, and Jo had her study at one end and I had mine at the other end, and we became a bit like George and Martha (in the play) Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? really after a while.
‘Eventually I came back and I thought, “really, we have to have (a) very serious conversation”. And I had to come clean and it came as a shock to Jo, bless her.’
Reflecting on his behavior, The Crown actor, who is now in a relationship with Alessandra Masi, 55, told Gyles Brandreth on the Rosebud podcast: ‘I don’t want to be seen to be scrabbling around for excuses.’
Dance also claimed that he had ‘never thought of myself as attractive’.
‘I really didn’t…’ he added. ‘(It) wasn’t until I did The Jewel In The Crown years later and people talked about me as being “the thinking woman’s crumpet”.
‘I always felt very grateful if girls behaved as if they were attracted to me.’
The star played Sgt Guy Perron in the 1984 TV series, which was an adaptation of Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet novels about the final days of the British Raj in India, during and after World War II.
However, the actor – who has also appeared in Hollywood films including Mank, Alien 3 and The Imitation Game – claimed there was ‘no justification for it, you know’.
‘In our business, Gyles, temptation is often presented and you have to be pretty together and balanced, and have not a particularly powerful libido to not succumb to that.
‘So, the marriage came to an end – huge regret. But after about 18 months, Jo and I, thankfully, became the best of friends, and we remain so, thank God.’
Asked if he would do anything differently now, he said: ‘Of course. Oh my goodness, the benefit of hindsight.
‘It took me a long time to learn the law of cause and effect.’
Dance met Masi on the set of his 2020 film The Book of Vision, which was filmed in both Italy and Belgium, where she was employed as a production manager.
When asked about his favorite memory of working on the movie, Charles told The Times in 2023: ‘Honestly, it's meeting Alessandra.’
He continued to disclose she now lives with him most of the time, and he's 'really happy about' it.
Charles was asked if starting a romantic relationship with Alessandra overshadowed his work on the film, and he responded: ‘Well, it does a bit. Alessandra is amazing. I’m very, very fortunate.’
Before that, he was in a relationship with artist Eleanor Boorman from 2008 to 2012, with whom he has a daughter, Rose, born in 2012.
