Inside Amanda Abbington’s past heartbreak and split from Martin Freeman – before going on to find love with Jonathan Goodwin who was paralysed two months after they met
Amanda Abbington has had to quit Strictly Come Dancing after being ‘plagued by difficulties’ during her time in the BBC ballroom competition.
The actress, 49, and her professional partner Giovanni Pernice missed the live show on Saturday night, citing ‘medical reasons’ for her absence.
However, she has now pulled out of the programme altogether, as the show released a statement on Monday evening revealing that she would not be returning.
This latest blow comes following a series of heartbreaking events for Amanda, who was previously married to her Sherlock co-star, Martin Freeman, 52.
Earlier this year in March, Amanda candidly revealed that she considered suicide after their difficult split left her ‘hating herself’.
Tragic end: 12665253 Inside Amanda Abbington’s past heartbreak after split from Martin Freeman before finding love with Jonathan who was paralysed during a shock accident
Ex: This latest blow comes following a series of heartbreaking events for Amanda, who was previously married to her Sherlock co-star, Martin Freeman, 52 (pictured in 2013)
The couple were married for 16 years until their split in 2016 and they share children Joe, 17, and Grace, 15, together.
In an interview with the Full Disclosure podcast, Amanda – who played Martin’s wife Mary Watson in the show – told how she was a ‘mess’ after their break-up.
Detailing how much the split had affected her, she told how suicide was a ‘genuine option’ during the dark period of her life, telling how she recently had a similar thought after a row with her daughter.
She explained: ‘It was breaking up with Martin and then realising I needed to sort myself out because I was a bit of a mess. I hated myself.
‘It was funny because the other day, and I’ve never told anyone, not even my therapist, I’d had a row with Grace [her daughter] because she couldn’t find her uniform and was late for school.
‘So in the end I had to drive her to school instead of the bus and I was sitting in the car and I was having a go at her and I was getting nothing back from her because she’s a 15-year-old and she’s going through all this stuff.
‘She’s a girl, I’m a mother — rage, anxiety. And I was sat there as I was driving, in my head, and I haven’t said this since I started therapy six years ago, ‘you could always kill yourself”
‘And that was what my mantra used to be. If you’ve let people down and upset somebody or if you’re not being the best you can or you’re a bad mother, or you’re not stepping up with your acting, you can always kill yourself.’
Family: The couple were married for 16 years until their split in 2016 and they share children Joe, 17, and Grace, 15, together (pictured)
Amanda went on to say that the idea of taking her life used to be an ‘option’ for her in the past, but that she last had the same thought six years ago – around the time of her separation from Martin.
She continued: ‘That was a genuine option for me, quite a few times in my life. Then I don’t have to be this bad person because I don’t have to be here any more.
‘And I thought about that and I thought, ‘Oh my God I haven’t thought about that in six years’.’
Amanda previously revealed that she kept her high-profile break up a secret for six months after she and Martin just couldn’t live with each other anymore.
Talking to the The Sunday Times magazine she said: ‘When we broke up nobody knew, we didn’t tell anybody except for a few key people because they had to know, because of the logistics of hotels and stuff.
‘It took six months for it to get out and a lot of that was while we were working on Sherlock… We were professional and we were going to get on and make a show and be civil to each other.
‘We still get on really well, we still really both admire each other as actors… he’s a great guy, but we just couldn’t live with each other any more.’
The pair met on the set of the film Men Only in 2000 and went on to play formidable duo John and Mary Watson.
Martin has since gone on to date French actress Rachel Mariam, 30, who has featured in many roles including BBC’s smash hit Normal People.
Amanda is now in a relationship with former daredevil Jonathan Goodwin, 43. The couple were friends for years before they began dating.
Romance: Amanda is now in a relationship with former daredevil Jonathan Goodwin, 43. The couple were friends for years before they began dating
Stunt: However they were only together two months before Jonathan became permanently paralysed when he was crushed during a stunt – leaving him in a wheelchair
However they were only together two months before Jonathan became permanently paralysed when he was crushed during a stunt – leaving him in a wheelchair.
The escapologist suffered life-changing injuries after he was crushed between two suspended cars while rehearsing a stunt for America’s Got Talent: Extreme in 2021.
Jonathan then fell to the ground and hit his head. He was airlifted to hospital where he underwent surgery.
The stuntman came away from the accident with fractures to his ribs, legs and shoulders, third-degree burns, internal organ injuries and he also lost his left kidney.
He is now suing America’s Got Talent bosses over the stunt that left him in a wheelchair for life.
The actress said that on the day of the accident, she received a phone call from her fiancé which she found strange as he ‘always texted.’
Amanda was told that that Jonathan was in ‘really bad shape’ and had been taken to intensive care.
Jonathan told The Guardian: ‘I called Amanda to thank her for the time we had together, in case I didn’t see her again.’
Jonathan revealed he offered fiancée Amanda a way out of their relationship and admitted he would have understood had Abbington opted to walk away from the relationship as he attempted to rebuild his life.
‘I should have died on the operating table from the accident, so I am incredibly lucky to be here,’ he said during a joint appearance on the Valentine’s Day instalment of Loose Women earlier this year.
‘Not that I would recommend nearly dying but it’s incredible, therapy, and then I feel so lucky and I pinch myself.
‘It’s such a massive change, it’s like becoming an adult baby. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody but I think that with all the physical challenges I’ve had in my life I’m uniquely adapted to dealing with it.’
Of Amanda’s get-out clause, he added: ‘I would never judge you for that. The only thing we need to talk about is when we get married. It didn’t even cross our mind.’
The couple confirmed their engagement in 2021 after he proposed within minutes of meeting the actress for the first time in Vienna – but their emotional bond had organically developed over years of online exchanges and phone-calls.
Jonathan said that he had been ‘planning’ the big event ‘already’, despite that the fact that they had only been talking for month.
Amanda said the proposal felt like ‘the most amazing, natural thing in the world.’
Absent: The actress, 49, and her professional partner Giovanni Pernice missed the live show on Saturday night, citing ‘medical reasons’ for her absence
Amanda had first crossed paths with the stuntman on Twitter in 2012, while they were both involved in other relationships – she with actor Martin and he with now ex-wife Katy.
A mutual respect for one another’s work sparked an initial friendship, but it would be a further nine years – by which time they were both single – before they finally fell for one another.
Jonathan said he had not considered moving back to the UK until he met Amanda and he changed his mind on a seven-hour phone call to the actress.
He told the outlet: ‘I kind of knew that I’d found my person by the time we hung up.’
Before joining Strictly, Amanda revealed she was suffering a lot of anxiety because her father had been admitted to hospital.
In June, Amanda shared with her followers that her father had been ‘really ill’ and was being treated in hospital during a ‘really awful’ time.
Amanda shared: ‘I haven’t posted in a while, my dad has been really ill. He’s been in hospital and he has not been well at all and it all was very awful for a while.
‘He’s out now, but he has still got a long road to recovery and he needs to make some massive life changes if he is going to keep being on the planet.
‘So, there’s been lots of things going on that have caused a lot of anxiety and I am quite an anxious person.’
Amanda said the worrying time had given her a ‘bad bout’ of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is something she has suffered from for 30 years.
She said: ‘It just knocks you out and it’s horrible. It can debilitate you and make you feel like s**t for quite a while’.
According to the NHS, IBS is a common condition that affects the digestive system and causes symptoms like stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation.
There’s no cure, but diet changes and medicines can often help control the symptoms.
However, nothing has worked for Amanda as she says her IBS flares up due to anxiety. She shared: ‘It manifests itself physically, but it’s all emotional.’
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