Martin Freeman’s colourful life from younger girlfriend to relationship with ex Amanda Abbington

Sherlock star Martin Freeman is now happily settled with his actress girlfriend who is 23 years younger than him but he was once in a long term romance with Amanda Abbington, who ‘he supported’ during her Strictly battle despite their split

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Renowned British actor Martin Freeman has enjoyed a highly successful, award winning career since shooting to fame as sales rep Tim in The Office alongside Ricky Gervais. Currently starring in Netflix’s new Agatha Christie murder mystery Seven Dials as Superintendent Battle, his high profile roles have led to great fame for the star both at home and in America.

Now 54-years-old, the TV and film talent prefers to keep his personal life as private as possible – particularly when it comes to romance. His girlfriend is a French actress and writer and although they have been together for over five years, the couple largely stay out of the limelight.

This wasn’t so much the case when he was involved in a long-term relationship with fellow Brit actress Amanda Abbington, with whom he shares two teenage children. Although their split left her in “a mess” mentally, it seems they have managed to keep relations very amicable after they both moved on with their lives.

It is believed Martin met his current love, French born Rachel Benaissa, well over five years ago. Although they aren’t often spotted in public together, she does support him at professional events, such as on the red carpet at last year’s Olivier Awards and at the premiere for Seven Dials.

Not much is known about Rachel, who is believed to be around 31 – making her 23 years younger than her famed beau. However she was born in Toulouse, France and is herself an actress who appeared as a teaching assistant in BBC smash Normal People, with Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones. She also featured in Netflix film Irish Wish with Lindsay Lohan and in commercials for Santander, Heineken and Dublin Airport.

As well as her fledgling acting career, Rachel is a writer. Her agency describes her work as blending “drama with dark humour” covering topics such as mental health, multi-heritage and the absurdity of everyday life. Perhaps a sign of their commitment to each other, Martin and Rachel recently set up production company One Trick Pone together. Their first two projects are feature film The Greatest, starring Freeman and a short called A Tiny Thing.

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Although Martin has stayed relatively tight-lipped on his relationship with Rachel he did let slip a few details about their home life last year. Appearing on Jessie and Lennie Ware’s Table Manners podcast, Martin revealed he and his love adore cooking together in their spare time. Because of Rachel’s heritage, Lennie asked: “She’s French. Is she Cordon Bleu?”

Martin replied: “She’s not a Cordon Bleu… she’s a massive cheese and wine w***e. That’s what she would say about herself. She says that about herself, ‘I’m a cheese and wine w***e’. It’s not all she is, but no, she loves all that stuff. We like cooking.'”

In a separate interview the star, who played Doctor John Watson in Sherlock, also told Jonathan Ross that he and Rachel had visited a Sherlock-themed escape room with his two children. He shares Joe, 19 and Grace 16, with Amanda but he described going to the venue with his “other half and my two kids”. Daughter Grace has also posted a TikTok video of Rachel with her brother Joe dancing along to She’s The Brightest Star from Martin’s Christmas movie Nativity.

The Hobbit actor and Amanda first met in 2000 on the set of the film Men Only and went on to collaborate on several projects over the years, including The Debt, The Good Night, and The Robinsons, with critics hailing their dynamic onscreen chemistry. They also starred as married couple Dr John Watson and Mary Morstan together in the BBC’s acclaimed series Sherlock, with Benedict Cumberbatch taking on the iconic role of the modern-day sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.

But it was during filming that they realised they had to call time on their real-life relationship because “they just couldn’t live with each other anymore.” Amanda admitted the split took a huge emotional toll on her but said they managed to hide their turmoil on set and maintain their professionalism.

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In a searingly honest interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, she revealed: “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.”

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 Amanda, now 51, also told the Full Disclosure podcast what a damaging impact their break-up had on her mental health, revealing she experienced intense self-loathing. It even reached a point where she considered taking her own life. “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 said.

Explaining how her despair led to suicidal thoughts, she said: “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.”

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Amanda, who is now engaged to former Britain’s Got Talent star and escapologist Jonathan Goodwin, was partnered with Giovanni Pernice on 2023’s series of Strictly Come Dancing but withdrew mid-way through the season – later lodging a complaint against the Italian dancer.

Speaking to The Sun, Amanda recalled how her ex Martin apologised to her during her time on the BBC talent show and was furious over her alleged treatment. She told the publication: “Martin said, ‘I’m so sorry that you’re having to go through this. This is awful. You don’t deserve it. I want to kill him’. Martin said to me, ‘It’s so unfair, Amanda, because you would always be like, ‘I want to be in that show’. You were so good in it.”

In 2024 the BBC’s internal investigation into allegations about her dance partner’s behaviour in rehearsals upheld six of Amanda’s 17 claims, all of which Giovanni strongly denied. The six-month probe uncovered moments of “inappropriate behaviour of sexual banter in the workplace” including an incident where he made an improper gesture in clear violation of the corporation’s codes.

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The BBC commented at the time: “Strictly Come Dancing is a family show and we rightly expect very high standards. While competition can be tough, rigorous and demanding, we want the show to ultimately be a joyous and transformative experience. It is a great shame if this hasn’t been the case for everyone who has appeared on the show.

“We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all. We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.”