French actress who healed Martin Freeman’s broken heart: Rachel Benaissa, 30, has quietly become a rock for actor, 53, since his split from Amanda Abbingdon – and her touching bond with his two children

When Martin Freeman and ex-wife Amanda Abbington split after 16 years together in 2016, both were left heartbroken.

Amanda, 51, previously told how she was a ‘mess’ following their breakup in 2016 after she and Martin, 53, just couldn’t live with each other anymore by the end of their 16-year marriage. 

While it’s unclear when Martin found love again with French actress Rachel Benaissa, who also goes by Rachel Mariam, the couple were first spotted together in 2020 and she appears to have formed a strong bond with his children Joe, 18, and Grace, 16, together.

Martin went public with his romance witht he Toulouse-born actress in 2021 but the pair are fierecelt private about their relationship. 

However, Rachel is happy to play the supportive partner and she’s often by Martin’s side on the red carpet to promote his film and TV projects – including their outing on Sunday at the Olivier Awards. 

But a video shared to TikTok by Martin’s daughter Grace shows that Rachel is firmly part of the family, dancing along to She’s The Brightest Star from Martin’s festive hit film Nativity with Joe and the family dachshunds. 

‘Merry christmas from Mr Maddens,’ she captioned the clip, referring to her father’s character in the hit film.  

Rachel had a small role as an unnamed teaching assistant in BBC hit Normal People, alongside stars Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones. 

The actress has also starred in Lindsay Lohan’s Netflix film Irish Wish, and Aisling Bea’s sitcom This Way Up, as well as roles in commercials for Heineken, Santander and Dublin Airport. 

Her connection to Ireland has most likely arisen from her days training at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dubli, where Colin Farrell, Aidan Turner and Olivia Wilde all honed their craft. 

In addition to acting, Rachel also writes screenplays and once came runner-up in Outstanding Screenplay’s TV pilot competition. 

Her writing is said to ‘blend drama with dark humour’ and she’s currently working on the script for a dark comedy-horror TV series called SELF CARE GIRLIE.

They made their first appearance as a couple when they graced the red carpet at the Raindance Film Festival Opening Night gala screening of Best Sellers at The Dorchester.

In March 2023, Amanda candidly revealed that she considered suicide after their difficult split left her ‘hating herself’.

In an interview with the Full Disclosure podcast, Amanda told how suicide was a ‘genuine option’ during the dark period of her life, telling how she recently had a similar thought after a row with her daughter.

She explained: ‘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.

‘It was funny because the other day, and I’ve never told anyone, not even my therapist, I’d had a row with Grace [her daughter] because she couldn’t find her uniform and was late for school. 

‘So in the end I had to drive her to school instead of the bus and I was sitting in the car and I was having a go at her and I was getting nothing back from her because she’s a 15-year-old and she’s going through all this stuff.

‘She’s a girl, I’m a mother — rage, anxiety. And I was sat there as I was driving, in my head, and I haven’t said this since I started therapy six years ago, ‘you could always kill yourself”

‘And that was what my mantra used to be. If you’ve let people down and upset somebody or if you’re not being the best you can or you’re a bad mother, or you’re not stepping up with your acting, you can always kill yourself.’

Amanda went on to say that the idea of taking her life used to be an ‘option’ for her in the past, but that she last had the same thought six years ago – around the time of her separation from Martin. 

She continued: ‘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 any more.

‘And I thought about that and I thought, “Oh my God I haven’t thought about that in six years”.’

Amanda previously revealed that she kept her high-profile break up a secret for six months after she and Martin just couldn’t live with each other anymore.

Talking to the The Sunday Times magazine she said: ‘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.

‘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 any more.’ 

The pair met on the set of the film Men Only in 2000 and went on to play formidable duo John and Mary Watson.

Amanda is now in a relationship with former daredevil Jonathan Goodwin, 43. The couple were friends for years before they began dating.

However they were only together two months before Jonathan became permanently paralysed when he was crushed during a stunt – leaving him in a wheelchair.

The escapologist suffered life-changing injuries after he was crushed between two suspended cars while rehearsing a stunt for America’s Got Talent: Extreme in 2021.

Jonathan then fell to the ground and hit his head. He was airlifted to hospital where he underwent surgery. 

The stuntman came away from the accident with fractures to his ribs, legs and shoulders, third-degree burns, internal organ injuries and he also lost his left kidney. 

He is now suing America’s Got Talent bosses over the stunt that left him in a wheelchair for life.