EXCLUSIVE: Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans are declared legally divorced amid ongoing custody battle over their daughters, two years after announcing separation
- In a court order handed down in LA Superior Court Monday, Judge Josh Freeman Stinn granted ‘judgment for dissolution of marriage as to status only’
- Comes after Ioan Gruffudd filed for bifurcation of marital status on May 18 requesting the couple be declared legally divorced as they work out a settlement
- Gruffudd, 49, and Evans, 54, are continuing to thrash out the arrangements for both their divorce and custody of their daughters, Ella, 13 and Elsie, nine
Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans are officially divorced, two years after announcing their split following 14 years of marriage, DailyMail.com can reveal.
In a court order handed down in LA Superior Court on Monday, Judge Josh Freeman Stinn finally granted Gruffudd’s request for divorce amid the couple’s ongoing custody battle.
The Welsh actor had filed for bifurcation and termination of marital status on May 18 which would allow him and Evans to be declared legally divorced even as they continue settlement negotiations in their split.
Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans were declared legally divorced on Monday, two years after the actor filed for divorce after 14 years of marriage
In December 2022, the Welsh actor filed for custody and visitation rights to see his children, Elsie, now 9, and Ella, 13. He is pictured with his estranged wife, Alice Evans, and daughters in 2018
In a court order handed down in LA Superior Court Monday, Judge Josh Freeman Stinn granted ‘judgment for dissolution of marriage as to status only’
A minute order obtained by DailyMail.com show the judge approved the request on July 3, ruling: ‘The Court finds irreconcilable differences have arisen in the marriage and grants judgment for the dissolution of marriage as to status only, effective today.’
While the move means Gruffudd and Evans are now officially ex-husband and ex-wife, it’s likely the pair’s bitter legal battle is far from over.
The couple – who met while co-starring in the 2000 Disney film 102 Dalmatians – are continuing to thrash out the arrangements for both their divorce and custody of their daughters, Ella, 13 and Elsie, nine.
The latest saga has seen Gruffudd, 49, sensationally accuse his ex-wife of setting up fake Twitter accounts to brand him and his new girlfriend Bianca Wallace ‘child abusers’ after daughter Ella applied for a temporary restraining order against Gruffudd and Wallace, 30.
Gruffudd filed for divorce in March 2021, shortly after Evans claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years was walking out on her and their two daughters.
The actress tweeted at the time: ‘Sad news. My beloved husband/soulmate of 20 years, Ioan Gruffudd, has announced he is to leave his family, starting next week.
‘Me and our young daughters girls are very confused and sad. We haven’t been given a reason except that he “no longer loves me.” I’m so sorry.’
The couple’s split would only grow more acrimonious from there, with Evans making headlines with a slew of public statements and accusations against her estranged husband.
After months of pointed tweets and social media posts made by Evans, Gruffudd responded by filing for a restraining order, submitting 113 pages of unhinged texts and emails that had not previously been made public.
Gruffudd filed for divorce in March 2021, shortly after Evans claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years was walking out on her and their two daughters
In court papers filed May 31,, Ella, the couple’s teenage daughter sought a restraining order against her famous father and his girlfriend Bianca Wallace
Alice and Ioan met on the set of 2000 Disney Film 102 Dalmatians and married in 2007
In his court filing, Gruffudd claimed he told Evans that he wanted out of the marriage in August 2020 and that since then, she had harassed him with hundreds of unanswered text messages, abusive emails and social media posts – many of which he included in the filing.
Having previously been awarded a temporary restraining order against his estranged wife, Gruffudd successfully obtained a three-year restraining order against Evans in August 2022.
Harsher restrictions were put in place by a US judge, including a ruling preventing Alice from leaking private text messages from their children.
Evans appeared in court in February 2023 to answer two charges of violating a restraining order that was put in place by her estranged husband.
The warring former couple were scheduled to appear later that month at a custody hearing but Evans asked for a postponement.
In documents filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court on May 31, the pair’s teenage daughter asked for a restraining order against her famous father and his girlfriend.
Ella claimed in her court filing that Bianca Wallace had ‘slammed a door on her head’. The judge turned down the application and appointed her and her younger sister a minors counsel
In the documents, Ella stated that she is ‘afraid’ of her father and accuses him of ‘threatening to call the police on her anytime she misbehaves’ during their visitations.
Ella filed for a domestic violence restraining order against her father following what she said was an ugly incident at their home, during which she claims Bianca ‘slammed a door on her head’.
On June 24 Judge Freeman Stinn at the Los Angeles Superior Court turned down her application and also appointed a minors counsel – a lawyer appointed by the court to represent the best interests of the child – to act for Ella and her younger sister Elsie.
It was the latest development in what has been an extraordinary domestic drama which has been played out in public.
Weeks before, Gruffudd had filed court documents that accused Evans of setting up fake Twitter accounts to brand him and Wallace ‘child abusers’.
He also claimed that Evans screamed at him outside his Los Angeles home and called him a ‘f***ing abuser’ and ‘abusive c***’ in front of Ella.
Both are seeking custody of the children.
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