Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty
Colin Firth and wife Livia Giuggioli.
- Colin Firth's wife Livia Giuggioli has admitted she had an affair with the main she accused of being her stalker.
- She says she was romantically involved with 55-year-old journalist Marco Brancaccia during a brief separation from Firth years ago.
- Firth and Giuggioli claim Brancaccia began stalking the couple after the affair when they reunited. Brancaccia denies the claims.
The wife of British actor Colin Firth, Italian producer Livia Giuggioli, has admitted that she had an affair with the journalist and childhood friend she accused of stalking her.
Italian police reportedly launched an investigation after the couple complained that 55-year-old journalist Marco Brancaccia, a childhood friend of Giuggioli who works for Italian news agency Ansa, had been making threatening telephone calls and sending texts to Giuggioli.
Police reportedly seized Brancaccia's phone and computer after Giuggioli told authorities she "lived in terror" of her former acquaintance, who denies the accusations.
Now, Brancaccia has told The Times that Giuggioli had invented the claims to cover up an affair the pair had between 2015 and 2016.
Both Giuggioli and Firth have confirmed the affair did, in fact, take place - but stick to the claim that Brancaccia has been stalking the couple since.
A spokesman for the couple provided a statement to The Times, which said: "A few years ago Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate. During that time Livia briefly became involved with former friend Mr Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited.
"Subsequently, Mr Brancaccia carried out a frightening campaign of harassment over several months, much of which is documented."
Brancaccia has repeatedly denied that he stalked the couple, telling The Times: "We were romantically involved, she wanted to leave Colin for me. My 'stalking' consisted of two messages via WhatsApp after she ended our relationship in June 2016, and an email.
"I wrote an email to Colin about my relationship with Livia, which I now regret sending, and she filed a complaint against me for stalking out of fear that I could go public with what she had revealed to me about her marriage and work. In a year she sent me hundreds of messages of love, photos and videos, even a diary."
Firth, who is known for his Oscar-winning performance in "The King's Speech" as well as roles in films like "Bridget Jones's Diary," married Giuggioli in 1997, gaining Italian citizenship last year.
The couple own a home near the town of CittÀ della Pieve in Umbria and have two sons, 16-year-old Luca and 13-year-old Matteo.