Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington, best known for their roles in BBC's Sherlock, have announced their separation after 16 years together. The couple, who met on a film set in 2000, have two children.
Freeman told the Financial Times: 'I'm not with Amanda any more,' describing the split as 'very, very amicable'. Abbington confirmed the news in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine, stating: 'We realised we'd come to the end of our time together.'
Abbington emphasised the amicable nature of the separation, saying: 'Martin and I remain best friends and love each other, and it was entirely amicable. There was no hostility, really, we just said that we couldn't live together anymore, so we put everything in place, he moved out to a flat in north London, I stayed at home and we've started a new chapter.'
She added: 'It is sad and it is upsetting, because you think you're going to be with someone forever, but you either do that or you break up, and we both came to the decision that splitting was best for us. We've been really lucky to make it such a clean break, especially for the kids.'
Freeman told the FT: 'I'll always love Amanda.' The couple will soon be seen reprising their roles as John Watson and his wife Mary in the new series of Sherlock, which features their characters with a baby daughter.
