MARTIN Clunes’ first wife Lucy Aston has revealed a brutal comment that ended their marriage for good.
The pair tied the knot in 1990, but their marriage ended just three years later following what was described as the “final straw” during a heated row at a Chinese restaurant.
Their first year of marriage was blissful, but cracks appeared when Martin’s, 63, career took off, while Lucy continued to work in a food shop.
But it came to a head when the Doc Martin star allegedly “forgot” to invite Lucy to a party.
Lucy claimed he called her “dull and boring” as she swapped their “party animal” nights out for studying to be a crisis counsellor.
Things hit breaking point when an argument broke out between then at a restaurant and Martin allegedly told Lucy: “You are an embarrassment.”
“He told me I was boring and different and I just thought: ‘No more.’ I stood up and said ‘thanks for dinner – this is the end’ and stormed out. I sat in the car shaking with rage,” Lucy told the Mirror.
“Later I went back and Martin was sitting there, surrounded by take- away cartons filled with our meal. He just looked at me. I took off my gold wedding ring, slammed it on the table and walked out.
“We both knew it was over. I was furious when I found out he had gone to a party without telling me.
“Worse than that, he had said he was going out with just a couple of male actor friends.
“He tried to make out he had told me, but the truth is he just didn’t want me there. The sad thing is I had become an embarrassment to him.”
Martin later claimed he and Lucy had put their differences aside enough to become “friends”.
“We had a problem enjoying each other but now I can enjoy Lucy again. We are friends and can appreciate each other,” he said.
But in 2008 he called their marriage “rotten”.
He told the Mail: “I don’t know if I was searching for anything. Maybe I was. I kind of found it without looking.
“When I met Philippa I was coming out of a rotten marriage, and was very resistant to the idea of getting involved again.”
Martin went on to marry Philippa Braithwaite in 1997.
Martin told The Mirror: “We met while working together, it’s the way it’s always been for us and it’s absolutely fine.”
He added: “Yes, it’s nice spending a bit of time on the farm on my own, but all I know is that I’m happiest when Philippa is by my side.
“We usually cook together. When we have a roast on a Sunday, for instance, I’m the one in charge of the meat and the gravy!”
Martin decided to pop the question while he was doing a holiday programme and he managed to fly Philippa out to the Hawaii shoot.
Talking to Irish News, Martin recalled: “It was the longest we’d been apart, and I missed her so much that I proposed, while she was really jet lagged and in such a strange place.”
After the proposal the couple tied the knot in 1997 with a small ceremony, followed by an after-party at The Savoy hotel in London.
Do they have kids?
The couple have a daughter born in 1999, called Emily, who as a youngster appeared in one episode of Doc Martin.
According to Linkedin, the 23-year-old went to Hartpury University and studied Equine Science, Equestrian/ Equine studies.
She now works as a manager for the Cheddington Equestrian Therapy and Rehabilitation centre.
