Alex Kingston, the 62-year-old actress best known for playing River Song in Doctor Who, has joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing. The star has spoken candidly about her past heartbreak after her ex-husband, Oscar-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes, had an affair.
Kingston met Fiennes at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1983 and they married a decade later. Their marriage ended when Fiennes began a relationship with actress Francesca Annis, who was 18 years his senior, while performing in Hamlet. Kingston admitted she felt 'worthless' after the split, saying: 'I was feeling worthless, that I would never find anyone else as good as my husband, which is ridiculous, but I had so little self-esteem.'
Fiennes and Annis were together for a decade before separating in 2006 following allegations of infidelity on his part. Kingston later married German writer Florian Haertel, with whom she has a daughter, but they divorced in 2013. She is now married to TV presenter Jonathan Stamp, tying the knot in Italy in 2015.
Reflecting on her Strictly debut, Kingston said she had long wanted to take part, joking about friend Sarah Hadland's ballet training. The new series of the BBC dance show is set to air soon.
