Dominic West declared that he and his wife Catherine FitzGerald are still together, as the couple made a defiant joint appearance outside their home after the actor was pictured kissing Lily James.
The Affair actor, 50, has returned home to the UK after he was pictured riding around Rome on a scooter with the 31-year-old Downton Abbey actress, nuzzling her neck at dinner and stroking her hair.
FitzGerald, 49, was said to be ‘devastated’ after seeing the photos of her husband with his The Pursuit Of Love co-star, telling friends that she thought they had a strong marriage.
However, the couple, who have been married for 10 years, put on a united front at their home in Wiltshire as they shared a kiss for the cameras.
Speaking to the press, West said: ‘I just want to say our marriage is strong and we are very much still together.’
The pair also produced a signed note which read: ‘Our marriage is strong and we are very much still together. Thank you’, followed by both West and FitzGerald’s signatures.
FitzGerald was all smiles as she posed with her husband of 10 years, who had his arm around her.
The landscape designer was dressed casually in a woolly jumper and jeans, while West wore a maroon overcoat, a shirt and jeans.
However, West’s wedding ring was still absent from his left hand, as it had been on his trip to Rome with James.
The Wire star is believed to have flown home from Italy on Monday night, and was pictured leaving his house in a silver Volvo with one of his children just after 8am.
The couple were believed to have been engaged in ‘crisis talks’, with a friend of FitzGerald telling the Mail: ‘Catherine has seen the pictures and she’s devastated. I came over to speak with her as soon as I knew about them.
‘Catherine has been trying to speak with Dominic but he’s not answering his phone. She’s totally shocked because she didn’t know anything was going on. They were very much together, so this is completely out of the blue.
‘She thought they had a good marriage and now it’s probably over. That’s how she feels right now but the two of them need to speak but at the moment, she’s lost for words.’
FitzGerald – a member of the FitzGerald aristocratic dynasty and a successful landscape designer and gardener – was previously married to Edward Lambton, Viscount Lambton from 1995 until 2002, and later reunited with West, who she had dated while attending Trinity College in Dublin in the early 90s.
The pair tied the knot in June 2010, and have gone on to have four kids together, Dora, 14, Senan, 12, Francis, 11, and seven-year-old Christabel; West is also dad to 22-year-old daughter Martha from his relationship with Polly Astor.
However, West questioned how natural monogamy is in an interview last year.
Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar about infidelity, the actor – famous for playing Noah Solloway, a man involved in an extramarital relationship, in The Affair – said: ‘It’s one of those subjects that people have very strong opinions about because everybody is open to it and can experience it. It affects kings as much as it does snails. A lot of people have experienced it and a lot of people fear it.
‘I suppose people suspect that the conventions that we have agreed upon in society, that a man and women can stay together for life or a certain amount of time without cheating, that they’re not really staying together based on anything other than how society thinks they should behave. It’s not the necessarily natural way to be, therefore there will always be adultery and intrigue about it.’
West and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again star James looked very cosy in pictures obtained by the Mail Online as they cuddled at dinner, with West missing his gold wedding ring.
The trip came just after it emerged that James had split for good from Doctor Who star Matt Smith, following five years together on and off.
The stars were believed to have been working on their relationship throughout lockdown, after they split in December 2019, but following the actress’s rumoured fling with Marvel star Chris Evans, the pair have called time on their romance.
West and James began filming the BBC adaptation of The Pursuit Of Love, alongside Emily Beecham and Andrew Scott, in July, but met back in 2011 when they both acted in Othello at the Sheffield Crucible.
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