Colin Firth announces separation from wife Livia after 22 years of marriage

Colin Firth has announced that he and wife Livia have separated after 22 years of marriage.

The Diary of Bridget Jones star and his wife Livia confirmed the sad news in statement released by his reps.

The pair, who share two children - Luca, 18, and Matteo, 16 - said they will maintain a close relationship in order to continue to co-parent.

It read, 'Colin and Livia Firth have separated. They maintain a close friendship and remain united in their love for their children. They kindly ask for privacy. There will be no further comment.'

The split comes a few years after the couple confirmed they briefly separated, and Livia became involved with someone else.

A spokesperson for the couple told The Times, "A few years ago, Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate. During that time, Livia briefly became involved with former friend Mr. Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited.”

At the same time, the couple accused Mr. Brancaccia of stalking them, with Italian prosecutors saying that Colin Firth's wife, Livia, was forced to make changes to 'her lifestyle', after she accused her alleged stalker of hounding her with countless emails and texts.

Prosecutors also revealed that she was 'living in terror', following the alleged harrassment. They said, "There was evidence of stalking against the victim in the form of messages and emails.

“She was very frightened and they were serious persecutory acts against her. She had to change her lifestyle because of the messages."

The couple tied the knot in 1997, just one year after they mey on the set of BBC drama Nostromo, in 1996.

The British actor and his Italian wife later moved to the Italian region of Umbria and he later became an Italian citizen.

Before marrying Livia, Colin was in a relationship with Canadian-American actress and novelist Meg Tilly, with whom he had a son - 29-year-old Will.