30 March 2024 , 17:02
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Charles Dance has opened up about his guilt over destroying his marriage by having an affair.
The 77-year-old Game of Thrones actor married sculptor Joanna Haythorn in 1970 and they welcomed their son, Oliver, in 1974 and their daughter, Rebecca, in 1980. But the marriage was derailed years later when Charles ‘gave in to temptation’ and cheated on his wife - causing the relationship to implode.
Charles has blamed his success in the public eye - having become a sex symbol to some in the 1984 TV drama The Jewel in the Crown - as a reason for developing a wandering eye. However, he has also said he is grateful that his ex-wife - whom he divorced in 2004 - was able to forgive him to the extent that they now have a close friendship.
Speaking to Gyles Brandreth on the Rosebud podcast, he said: “For the most part it was a wonderful marriage, but then, unfortunately, I succumbed to some temptations along the way and the marriage ended because of my behaviour really. I eventually had to come clean.
He was married Joanna Haythorn to from 1970 until 2004 (Mirrorpix)
Modern TV fans will recognise Charles as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones (Getty Images)"We were living in Somerset, in this enormous 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.”
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He added: “I never thought of myself as attractive. I really didn’t… (It) wasn’t until I did (the TV series) The Jewel In The Crown years later that 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.
“But there is 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. She had a flat not very far away from where I live and we saw each other quite frequently, and so it kind of all turned out all right in the end.”
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.”
Despite the disastrous end of his marriage, Charles has gone on to enjoy fresh romance in the years since. Last year, he gushed over his “luck” at falling for Italian beauty Alessandra Masi, 55, who he met on the set of The Book Of Vision where she worked as a production manager. He told the Evening Standard last year: “Alessandra’s fantastic. I’m very, very lucky.”