Former Married At First Sight contestant Lara Eyre has shared surprising details about her past relationship with Hollywood actor Charlie Hunnam, revealing a complex romantic history that spanned several years during the late nineties and early noughties.
The Beginning of an Unlikely Romance
Lara Eyre, now 53, who appeared on the 2022 series of E4's hit reality show, met the Sons of Anarchy star in 1999 through mutual friend and soap actor Antony Cotton. At the time, Lara was 25 while Charlie was just 19 and beginning his acting career.
The introduction came after Lara had been watching the groundbreaking gay drama Queer as Folk, where both Antony Cotton and Charlie Hunnam appeared. She expressed her attraction to the young actor to Cotton, who subsequently arranged their meeting.
"We just hit it off. I liked him a lot straight off the bat," Lara recalled to The Sun. "He had this way of making you feel really special."
A Turbulent Relationship Pattern
Their relationship developed quickly, with Lara claiming that Charlie planned to take her to America as he attempted to break into Hollywood. However, their romance took an abrupt turn when Charlie's phone suddenly disconnected and his agent refused to provide his new contact details.
"I remember accepting this is it," Lara explained about the sudden communication cutoff that left her believing their relationship was over.
Six months later, Charlie unexpectedly reappeared, calling Lara and expressing his desire to rekindle their romance and even move in together. The couple resumed dating, but Charlie failed to disclose a crucial detail - he was already married to Katherine Towne, daughter of renowned director Robert Towne.
The couple had met at an audition for Dawson's Creek and married just weeks later during a 2am ceremony in Las Vegas in 1999.
The Dramatic Confrontation
Lara became suspicious when Charlie began acting "quite rude" while they were working together on set. She and friend Antony Cotton decided to confront him at his hotel to demand answers.
"When he came down he was tense, it was weird and bizarre," Lara described the encounter. "Then this gorgeous American came down the stairs, she looked so pretty and was a cool girl."
Realising she was facing Charlie's wife, Lara immediately fled the hotel and subsequently left the country entirely, booking a flight to Japan to distance herself from the painful situation.
The escape proved difficult as she found herself constantly confronted with advertisements featuring Charlie promoting his latest film. "It's really hard when you have broken up with someone famous, because they are everywhere and you can't escape them," she noted.
Moving Forward Without Bitterness
Despite the hurt caused by the experience, Lara maintains no ill feelings toward Charlie Hunnam, who is now 44 and has been in a long-term relationship with Morgana McNelis since 2005.
"I was very hurt but at the time he made me feel so good when we were together, like the most important person in the world," she reflected.
Lara has since reconnected with her childhood sweetheart Steven Swaisland, 54, and maintains occasional contact with Charlie over the years.
The story comes amid previous revelations about Hunnam's complicated views on marriage. In 2020, he described feeling "indifferent" toward the institution despite his brief marriage to Katharine Towne, which ended in divorce in 2002 after just three years.
He later walked back those comments, explaining they were "a stupid thing to say" that "really hurt my girlfriend's feelings" when discussing potential future marriage plans with Morgana McNelis.
