Dawn French and Lenny Henry's divorce - confession, reason for split, new loves
Many comedy fans were surprised and saddened when Dawn French and Lenny Henry announced they would be getting an 'entirely amicable' divorce after 25 years of marriage.
The funny pair first met in 1980, back when they were members of the alternative comedy show Comic Strip, and hit it off immediately. In his 2022 memoir Rising to the Surface, Lenny, 65, described their first encounter as a 'meeting of minds', recalling: "A massive light bulb went off over my head. I was compelled by [Dawn]."
After tying the knot in what Lenny referred to as a 'fancy-schmancy chi-chi hall' in London's Covent Garden in 1984, the couple went on to welcome daughter Billie and appeared to be hugely supportive of each other as their impressive comedy careers continued to skyrocket. But things came to a sudden end in 2010, rocking the celebrity world. As Dawn's comedy show Dawn French is a Huge Tw*t airs on the BBC, we take a look at her split from Lenny, from his poignant confession to her witty knickers joke.
(Press Association)Poignant confession
The pair ended their marriage in 2010 on reported grounds of his 'unreasonable behaviour'. It came after rumours swirled that Lenny had cheated on Dawn back in 1999 - an allegation he has denied. Opening up about the split during an interview with the Express in 2016, Lenny said: "There’s generally a situation where one partner wants the marriage to finish more than the other.
"I think maybe one of us did, then the other one did, and then the other did over a period of time and then, in the end, we thought, 'Oh, actually maybe we both do'. We knew it wasn't possible to continue."
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Dawn's unofficial biographer Alison Boyer told the Mail the comic duo had been 'outgrowing' their marriage for some time before calling it quits, claiming "[Dawn] and Lenny have long been moving in increasingly different directions and have spent little time together in the past two years."
Knickers joke
In 2014, Dawn, 66, quipped that her 'uninteresting' knickers were behind the split, telling the Sun: "Maybe I should have worn more interesting pants and I'd still be married to him." On a more serious note, she's also reflected on the positives of their divorce, which has seen them go from husband and wife to 'the best of friends'.
Following the split, The French and Saunders star told The Mirror: “Remarkably, we seem to have shifted with relative ease from a 25-year marriage to a lasting friendship. I am amazed by us – there is no war, we’ve turned out to be the best of friends. There were lots of good years but one tricky last year.” She continued: “This had been a very happy marriage for a very long time and you don't stop looking after each other or caring for each other, whatever has happened."
The former couple now enjoy a 'lasting friendship' (Press Association)Finding love again
Both Lenny and Dawn have moved forward and found love elsewhere with new partners. In 2013, Dawn married therapist Mark Bignell, who co-founded drug and alcohol addiction charity Hamoaze House, alongside Dawn's late mother, Felicity 'Roma' French. The couple live in a stunning waterside mansion in Cornwall, not too far from daughter Billie. Lenny has reportedly been with his theatre director partner Lisa Makin, since 2012.
You can catch Dawn French is a Huge Tw*t on December 28 at 10:30pm on BBC One
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