25 September 2023 , 16:48
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If you're a fan of the BBC show Sherlock, then you'll likely know Amanda Abbington and Martin Freeman as Mary and John Watson and you'll also know that their relationship on the drama ended in tragedy. Off-screen many might not know that the pair were in a relationship in real life, but that too has a rather heartbreaking - albeit very different - end.
The actors met in 2000 while working on the set of the film Men Only and hit it off, with sparks flying between them. They went on to star on screen together numerous other times, including in The Debt, The Good Night, and The Robinsons, but their most iconic performances are perhaps in Sherlock.
They never married but lived together in Hertfordshire and had two children together, a son Joe and a daughter Grace, before calling quits on their partnership in 2016 - although they kept their split a secret from everyone for six months before it was announced.
Amanda, 51, who is set to star in Strictly Come Dancing this year, opened up about the end of their relationship to The Sunday Times Magazine, sharing the heartbreaking reason behind it all. 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."
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(Getty Images)She added: "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 anymore." The mum-of-two has since spoken about the toll the break-up took on her mental health, telling the Full Disclosure podcast that she was a 'mess' and was left 'hating herself'. Things got so dark for the star that she was even contemplating suicide.
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"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," she explained. Amanda went on to recall how after the split she was left feeling like she'd let people down and her mantra soon became "You could always kill yourself". 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 anymore."
Thankfully Amanda started therapy and was able to stop feeling this way and she's since moved on with her life. She's now engaged to former daredevil Jonathan Goodwin, who she had been friends with since crossing paths on Twitter in 2012 but had only ever talked to online or over the phone. When they finally got together in person for the first time in Vienna, Jonathan proposed within minutes of meeting her.
The pair had only been together for two months when Jonathan was involved in a horrific accident during an America's Got Talent: Extreme stunt gone wrong, leaving him paralysed. The pair appeared on Loose Women recently, where Jonathan admitted he would have understood if Amanda had walked away from their relationship after his life-changing injuries, but she never considered it. She recalled how he said they had "a lot to talk about" but her response was simply: "Unless it's about the wedding, then no, we don't." She added: "Breaking up never flashed through my mind. I just thanked god he was alive."
Martin has also since moved on and is currently dating actress Rachel Mariam, who is known for starring in BBC's Normal People, alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal.