Ioan Gruffudd might not have been a household name before, but he may be now after being engulfed in a messy split with wife Alice Evans in January 2021.
The couple first met back in 2000, on the set of the movie 102 Dalmatians. In 2007, they made it official by getting married. Ioan, who's a Welsh actor, may be most recognizable from the Fantastic Four films. Alice has seemingly lay low in the last few years, but she notably played the role of Esther Mikaelson in the television series The Vampire Diaries.
There didn't seem to be too much tension between them prior, but Ioan reportedly called it quits, stating he just didn't love Alice anymore. To retaliate, Alice has taken it on herself to reveal what their marriage was really like.
The news of their split came out in January of 2021. The two released a joint statement, but after that Alice tweeted that Ioan left her "gaslit and mentally tortured." While Alice later deleted those tweets, they still made an impact and left fans wondering what actually happened behind closed doors.
More from LittleThings: Jane Fonda Told The World About Her Experience Skinny-Dipping With Michael Jackson
Alice also mentioned that it was Ioan who had been deleting tweets from her account, so it's possible he's the one who eventually removed them. But beforehand, Alice claimed she was harassed for around six months.
"I cannot live like this anymore," she admitted.
The couple have two daughters together — Ella and Elsie. They were both included in Alice's most telling tweet, which stated, "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."
But the true hurt happened when Alice realized that Ioan was seeing someone new. And when she did the mental math, she realized that Ioan may have been cheating on her for some time. Unfortunately, when she talked about it on social media, a lot of people thought that she was in the wrong. But her story is an important one. Not only was she blindsided, but she and her daughters were lied to.
Ioan went so far as to announce his new relationship on social media without telling his family. At the time, he was still legally married to Alice. His new girlfriend Bianca Wallace had only about 6,000 followers when they started dating, and that number might not increase. She's been targeted by fans who are calling her a "homewrecker." Alice has also been targeted by people who claim she's not well enough to look after her own children.
While it may seem unusual for an ex to tweet so much, it seems like Alice is using Twitter as a way to cope and to speak her truth. Splits like this often happen in Hollywood, with fans making their own conclusions as to what happened. But with Alice, she's leaving no room for imagination. She's just trying to survive this public split and be the best mom she can be for her very hurt young girls.
But dating someone else behind your spouse's back is only one part of it. Alice also shared details of the marriage that caused her a lot of stress. For one, she claimed that Ioan was strict about weight and made sure she never gained. That's a lot of pressure to put on anyone, and it's unhealthy for plenty of reasons.
Alice revealed this by responding to a tweet from a fan that said, "Some words of caution for new side chick and marriage wrecker @BiancaWarren. Don't gain an ounce of weight. @IoanGruffudd likes his women anorexic skinny. Time to dig out the Thighmaster and cigarettes." Upon seeing it, Alice more or less admitted that the fan was correct.
"You're not wrong," Alice admitted. "He told me several times over the years that he couldn't abide 'fatties' and he would leave if I gained weight. I guess he was true to his word this time!" While Alice is going through a hard time and is getting a lot of negativity thrown her way, she's also found a good amount of support on social media.
A lot of followers see themselves in the story — duped by someone they thought they had a forever with. And now Alice is left to try to pick up the pieces. Making it public may seem extreme, but it's important that she's speaking her mind. She's also allowed to have a say, and she deserves to have a little bit of control over the story.
Alice also reportedly made mention of the fact that Ioan had refused to talk to their two daughters about the divorce. "He hasn't even told them about the divorce yet," she wrote. "They think he might come back. All his clothes are still where he left them a year ago. Toothbrush, creams, everything." Fans have told Alice that it might be time to donate them so that she can move forward.
Hopefully with time, Alice can recover from this devastation. It's tough to build a foundation with someone only for them to break your trust. But it seems like this situation may get worse before it gets better, and these two have a long road ahead of them when it comes to splitting assets and child care responsibilities, even a few years after the split.
