“Time heals all wounds,” but Lily James is going to need a little more before she’s willing to speak about the scandal involving her and her The Pursuit Of Love co-star, Dominic West. Lilly, 32, and Dominic, 51, were spotted having a very affectionate lunch in October 2020, despite him being married to Catherine FitzGerald. While speaking with The Guardian’s Michael Hogan about The Pursuit of Love, he brought up the “media storm” around the romance rumors and asked for her take on it. “Ach, I’m not really willing to talk about that,” said Lily. “There is a lot to say, but not now, I’m afraid.”
There was a lot of talk about the PDA, at the time. During a lunch outing with their mutual agent, Angharad Wood, The Affair actor was spotted kissing Lily’s neck and placing his arm around her shoulders. Later, the two were spotted cozying up while riding together on the same scooter. This sparked speculation of romance and infidelity (Dominic has been married to Catherine since 2010, and they have four children together.) Shortly afterward, however, Dominic and Catherine issued a statement about how their “marriage is strong and we’re very much still together.” To further drive this home, the couple kissed in front of photographers and reporters that had gathered outside their home in England.
Lily was reportedly “mortified and embarrassed” by the entire scandal. The actress was also reportedly “shocked” to see the photos of the PDA, and was ready for this whole circus to “go away.” At the time, she was reportedly planned to lay low and let the whole thing blow over. However, now that she’s doing press for the movie, the scandal will likely come up again – as it did with The Guardian.
Shortly after the PDA pics hit the press, Lilly appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to speak with Jimmy Fallon about many things – just not the PDA with Dominic. In this first interview since the photos, Lilly talked about teaching “Broadway classes” online, about landing her role in Mama Mia! Here We Go Again, and if there would be a third installment in the ABBA-centric musical franchise.
In a case of odd timing, Lilly admitted that she “make(s) mistakes all the time” in a Harper’s Bazaar interview that was filmed before the scandal. “That’s what life is about. I would never want to run away from a situation or be too scared to act. I think it’s better to throw yourself in and make mistakes with an open heart. If your instincts are great, even if they’re misguided, and if you’re open, you can recover from your mistakes and learn from them.” Fans also unearthed an interview Dominic gave in 2016 where he said that “women should be more indulgent of affairs.” It should be noted that this was done in support of The Affair and that the interviewer wasn’t sure if Dominic was being serious or not.