When Ioan Gruffudd’s fiancée Bianca Wallace posted a photo of herself sporting a new Rolex watch, she had no idea it would spark such a huge controversy.
A hard-working actress, she saw nothing wrong with a little shopping spree from time to time.
But Wallace’s display of pride in his latest acquisition sparked another chapter in the long-running feud between British actor Ioan and his ex-wife Alice Evans.
Ioan Gruffudd’s fiancée Bianca Wallace has angered her ex when she posted a photo of herself sporting a pricey new Rolex watch.
The Welsh actor and Ms Wallace (pictured) announced their engagement in January, with Ms Wallace sporting a ring worth thousands of pounds.
Alice, the mother of Ioan’s two daughters, has been claiming that she is living in poverty because she claims the Welsh hunk has not been paying her child support.
She says her ex has paid her nothing at all, either in child or spousal support — something he denies — since April, and last week filed a legal application for “public assistance” pending a hearing on support payments scheduled for later this year.
In these circumstances, seeing Bianca with a watch on her wrist worth thousands of pounds (along with the stunning engagement ring Ioan bought her when he proposed in January) only served to fuel his anger.
Ioan’s friends, who say they cannot stand by as she spouts such “baseless and false” claims, say he is equally furious. They describe British-American actress Alice, 55, as a “total nightmare”, who is “determined to hurt” her ex “as much as she can”.
They insist he has paid “more than the court ordered,” that he has been making payments since April and that his claims of poverty are “simply nonsense.”
Gruffudd and Evans met in 2016 before their relationship turned sour. He filed for divorce in March 2021, shortly after she claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years had abandoned her and their two daughters.
The couple with their daughters, Elsie and Ella, now aged 10 and 14.
They also point out that Bianca has the right to spend whatever she wants on whatever she wants, including an expensive watch.
One of them told the Mail: “If anything, Ioan paid Alice more than the court ruled. He wants to ensure the best for his children and would make sure they received the care they deserve.”
“For Alice to say otherwise is completely wrong. And what Bianca spends her money on is her business; starting to pour money into things is really just nonsense.
“She’s an independent woman who has her own money. It seems like a last desperate attempt to make it big.”
‘Alice seems very bitter and jealous. While these things are never easy to deal with, this is spiraling out of control. It’s becoming a desperately sad situation. You’d think Alice would know when to keep quiet.
“It’s almost too cruel.”
But cruelty has been the underlying theme of this divorce, which became public in January 2021, when Alice took to Twitter (now X) to reveal that her husband of 14 years was leaving her.
‘My beloved husband and soul mate of 20 years, Ioan Gruffudd, has announced that he will be leaving his family as of next week. Our daughters and I are very confused.
“They haven’t given us any reason other than ‘he doesn’t love me anymore’. I’m so sorry.”
When that tweet disappeared, he posted another, saying that he had deleted his ad. He wrote: “Of course I will, when I am being manipulated and mentally tortured, then of course I will wash my clothes in public.”
As the latest turn of events shows, she certainly meant it.
Gruffudd and Mrs Wallace are said to have met in Australia, where the Hornblower star had been filming the ABC series Harrow and Bianca had been working as an extra.
The Hollywood stars met on the set of 102 Dalmatians in 2000, when they played on-screen love interests Chloe and Kevin.
The Rolex incident marks only the latest sad twist in a saga that had very promising beginnings.
Ioan and Alice met on the set of 102 Dalmatians over 20 years ago, when they played on-screen lovers Chloe and Kevin. They later fell in love in real life, and on New Year’s Day 2006, he popped the question.
They then tied the knot in Mexico, followed by Ella, now 14, and Elsie, now 10. They settled in Los Angeles, where they became known as one of Hollywood’s most entertaining couples and quickly amassed a lot of friends.
But cracks began to appear in their marriage. Then the war of words began, which quickly escalated and, as the consequences became felt, the gloves came off.
According to Ioan’s friends, part of the problem was that Alice had a tendency to tweet after she’d had a few drinks.
She was also prone to posting confusing messages on the video-sharing website Cameo, where she sold messages to her fans for £30.
At one point he admitted that he was “probably drinking too much.”
“Alice was clearly hurt, but she would regularly go on Twitter and post things,” says a friend of her ex-husband. “It was sometimes very unseemly and hurtful. There were children in the middle of it all.”
‘Ioan decided to maintain a dignified silence about it all.’
In an attempt to end what he saw as a campaign of abuse, Gruffudd took legal action, claiming in court documents that Alice had branded him a “child molester” on social media.
He also accused her of creating anonymous social media accounts, up to 22 on Twitter/X, which she used to attack him in front of her followers.
In court documents last year, Ioan, 49, claimed Alice called him an “abusive jerk” and therefore breached a restraining order that had been in place for three years.
He also alleged that Alice flashed her bare bottom at him when he dropped off their children at her Los Angeles home.
Ioan said: ‘Since 26 May, a number of anonymous social media accounts (22 on Twitter) have been created naming Bianca and me as ‘child abusers’ and making incredibly slanderous and defamatory claims.’
Friends say it was “crystal clear” what he was doing.
A friend of Ioan said: ‘Alice is trying to make this as difficult as possible right now.
‘At this rate it seems like this will never end. There have been some very wild accusations made; let’s not forget all the Twitter posts that the judge had to ask her to stop making.
“Why would you want to put your kids in a situation where they have to read all that? They’re at an age where they can see all that. It’s hard to understand why anyone would do that. It’s crazy; none of this has been good for their well-being at all.
“We’re in an age where this kind of content stays on the Internet forever; if they don’t read it now, how can you say they won’t read it in the next few years?”
‘She’s tried to get them help and make sure they get the right care. She’s insisted that they get therapy.
“These girls are what Ioan cares about the most and it is truly devastating for him to see this happening.”
As for the future, Ioan’s friends say they fear the fallout will “never go away” and will continue to plague the already fractured family for the foreseeable future.
“Alice will keep coming back whenever the opportunity presents itself,” says a friend of the Hornblower star.
“She’s very upset and doesn’t seem to have much else to do at the moment. We can only hope that Alice finds a way to find her own happiness.”