Colin Firth's wife, Livia Giuggioli, has revealed that she had an affair with a man who is now being accused of stalking her, according to the U.K.'s The Times.
In a statement obtained by The Times, Firth and his wife confirmed that she had a relationship with Italian journalist Marco Brancaccia between 2015 and 2016.
"A few years ago Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate. During that time Livia briefly became involved with former friend Mr. Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited," the statement read.
But since the alleged affair took place, the 48-year-old film producer, who married Firth in 1997, has claimed that Brancaccia has been harassing her with "frightening" messages. According to The Times, the police are now in the process of investigating the claims.
The statement went on to further detail the journalist's harassment. “Subsequently, 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.”
After the news of the claims were made public, Brancaccia denied the allegations against him to The Times and said that he and Giuggioli were "romantically involved" and that her marriage to Firth had “been over for years.”
“She wanted to leave Colin for me,” he said and then went on to clarify that his stalking claims had been exaggerated.
"My ‘stalking’ consisted of two messages via WhatsApp after she ended our relationship in June 2016, and an email," he explained. "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.”
Brancaccia concluded that Firth had been "understanding" about the news and claimed that his wife was the one who had sent him numerous messages over time. “In a year she sent me hundreds of messages of love, photos and videos, even a diary."
Despite the scandal, the Oscar-winning actor remains married to his wife of 21 years. The couple shares two sons, 16-year-old Luca and 15-year-old Matteo.