Colin Firth and his wife, Livia Giuggioli, are calling it quits after nearly 22 years of marriage. “Colin and Livia Firth have separated. They maintain a close friendship and remain united in their love for their children,” a rep for the couple said in a statement to PEOPLE. “They kindly ask for privacy. There will be no further comment.” Colin, 59, and Livia, 50, are the parents to two teenage sons: Luca Firth, 18, and Matteo Firth, 16. Colin has a son from a previous relationship with actress Meg Tilly: Will Firth, 29. It’s unclear why the Mamma Mia! actor and the film producer, whom he married in 1997, are splitting up.
Colin and Livia privately separated in 2015. During this time, Livia admitted that she became involved with a former friend, journalist Marco Brancaccia, 57, which lasted for 11 months. The brief relationship ended in 2016, and Livia and Colin reunited. The couple claimed in March 2018 that the journalist had been harassing them ever since with unwanted emails and texts. “Mr. Brancaccia carried out a frightening campaign of harassment over several months, much of which is documented. For obvious reasons, the Firths have never had any desire to make this matter public,” the couple said in a statement at the time. The journalist denied the stalking accusations, telling ANSA, the Italian newspaper where he was employed, that the couple’s marriage had been “over for years,” and that he and Livia were in love.
“My ‘stalking’ consisted of two messages via WhatsApp after she ended our relationship in June 2016, and an email,” he told the newspaper. “I wrote an email to Colin about my relationship with Livia, which I now regret sending, and she filed a complaint against me for stalking out of fear that I could go public with what she had revealed to me about her marriage and work. In a year she sent me hundreds of messages of love, photos and videos, even a diary,” adding that Firth had shown “understanding.”
Colin and Livia are just one of dozens of couples to break up in 2019. Most recently, William Shatner filed for divorce from his wife of 18 years, Elizabeth Shatner. To see all of the couples who said goodbye this year, scroll through the gallery above.