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Martin Freeman has made a candid admission about his failed relationships, revealing he has felt 'lonely' with former partners in a way he 'couldn't explain'.
The Hobbit star, 54, opened up about the warning signs that signalled trouble in his romantic life, admitting feeling isolated in a couple indicated something was wrong.
'What I do know about myself is that if you start to feel lonely in a relationship, or like, I'm on my own here somewhere in ways that you can't explain or ways that you can't sort of broach with your other half, it indicates something,' he said on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast.
The actor, who rose to fame in BBC comedy The Office, split from his long-term partner, actress Amanda Abbington, 51, in 2016 after 16 years together.
They had met on the set of the 2000 film Men Only and made numerous on-screen appearances together including in The Debt, The Robinsons, and most notably Sherlock, where she played his romantic partner.
The couple, who never married, share son Joe, 19, and daughter Grace, 17.
Martin Freeman has made a candid admission about his failed relationships, revealing he has felt 'lonely' with former partners in a way he 'couldn't explain' (pictured with ex wife Amanda Abbington in 2014)
The Love Actually star, who has been in a relationship with French actress Rachel Benaissa, 31, since 2020, added that he thinks uncomfortable emotions are inevitable in any relationship.
Amanda has admitted that Martin's extended absences filming The Hobbit trilogy in New Zealand - where he spent up to four months at a stretch - contributed to the breakdown of their relationship, saying 'a few things happened during the last couple of years' that proved to be 'the straw that broke the camel's back'.
On the podcast, the usually-fiercely private Martin added that he believed many people suppress doubts about their relationships out of misplaced loyalty, preventing them from addressing problems.
'I think sometimes we complicate things in our own minds,' he said, 'because we think anything that approaches a questioning of our current state with our relationship, say, is a bit disloyal or something - or is a bit verboten. "I shouldn't even be thinking about it."'
The Love Actually star, who has been in a relationship with French actress Rachel Benaissa, 31, since 2020, added that he thinks uncomfortable emotions are inevitable in any relationship.
'You're bound to have feelings and thoughts and memories and whatever that might be uncomfortable,' he said, admitting he has trained himself to remember that his partner can be going through a similar experience within the relationship.
'That's the other thing you forget,' he said. 'I forget that - and I'm pretty grown up. I think, yeah, of course, all the stuff that I'm feeling, so is she. She's got this entire universe in her head that I am not literally part of.'
He and former Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda have maintained a cordial co-parenting relationship since their split.
In a 2019 interview, the actress revealed they had navigated the break-up 'in about as civilised a manner as I've ever heard of', adding: 'We still love each other - even if we're not in love with each other.'
Amanda got engaged to former Britain's Got Talent finalist, daredevil escapologist Jonathan Goodwin, in 2021 following a whirlwind romance (pictured in 2023)
Martin's new partner Rachel has appeared in BBC's Normal People and This Way Up, and has formed a close bond with Martin's children.
Earlier this month, she joined them at the the London premiere of Agatha Christie's Seven Dials, in which Martin stars opposite Helen Bonham Carter and Mia McKenna-Bruce.
The couple have also partnered professionally, co-founding production company One Trick Poné in April last year, through which they are developing several film projects together.
The couple had initially connected on X - then Twitter - in 2012, with Jonathan proposing within 30 minutes of their first in-person meeting in Vienna.
English (US) ·