Hollywood beauty Monica Bellucci today announced that her marriage to star actor Vincent Cassel was over.
It follows weeks of speculation about the couple’s increasingly tempestuous relationship.
In April, 48-year-old Bellucci, who shot to fame in films like The Matrix Reloaded and The Passion of the Christ, told Grazia magazine: ‘Marriage, we never know how long it will last...Today, it works, but in a year, I don’t know.’
Separate lives: Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassell are understood to have been living separate lives for years
In April, Cassel told Closer magazine: ‘My wife and me are very different animals. This is probably the key to our relationship after 18 years together…We don’t seek other people’s approval.’
The former model met Cassel, 46, in 1996 on the set of Gilles Mimouni’s film 'l’Appartement'.
The former model met Cassel, 46, in 1996 on the set of Gilles Mimouni’s film 'l’Appartement'.
They were together for three years before marrying in a quiet ceremony in Monaco, on the French Riviera.
Cassell is hugely popular in his home country of France, where he first leapt into the public imagination in ‘La Haine’ (Hate), a film about delinquents on a troubled Paris housing estate.
All over: Monica Bellucci has confirmed the end of her marriage to Vincent Cassell after weeks of speculation
Both actors said they had split by ‘mutual agreement’ following 14 year of marriage which produced two daughters, seven-year-old Deva, and three-year-old Leonie.
Cassel and Bellucci, who was born in Italy, had been leading independent lives for a number years, keeping their own respective apartments in Paris and Rome.
Cassel and Bellucci, who was born in Italy, had been leading independent lives for a number years, keeping their own respective apartments in Paris and Rome.
Cassel also spent a great deal of time alone in Brazil.
Arm in arm: The couple enjoy a day out in Paris in 2012
The split marks the second marriage failure for Bellucci, who was with Italian photographer Claudio Basso for four years, before divorcing him in 1994.
The actress is currently away working in Serbia, while Cassel is thought to be in France.
His spokesman told AFP, France’s national news agency, that ‘Vincent Cassel confirms that he has agreed to separate from his wife Monica Bellucci.’
Confirmed: Monica ended her marriage to the French actor by 'mutual agreement'
