Greg Wise says he and Emma Thompson ‘got together in madness’ after Kenneth Branagh affair

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Greg Wise has reflected on the press attention he and Emma Thompson attracted at the beginning of their relationship.

The Crown actor Wise and Cruella star Thompson started dating in 1995, soon after Thompson’s divorce from Branagh, who she had been married to for six years.

In September 1995, Thompson and Branagh announced their separation, citing their work schedules as the reason, but it later emerged that he was having an affair with Helena Bonham Carter.

Thompson started a relationship with her Sense and Sensibility co-star Wise later that year, and they married in 2003. Speaking about recovering from depression and forming a relationship with Wise, Thompson later told BBC Radio 4: “Work saved me and Greg saved me. He picked up the pieces and put them together again.”

Wise, who is competing on Strictly Come Dancing this year and will likely be making headlines throughout the series, told The Telegraph in a new interview that he is used to media attention.

“I’m going on social media for the first time, starting an Instagram account. I won’t read anything, obviously, but I’ll post stuff,” he said. “We’ve had madness in the past – we got together in madness 26 years ago. I escaped to the bush in Queensland, in the middle of nowhere, and was papped! You can’t hide, so just be polite. Get on with it. Give them a smile.”

Wise will be competing against other celebrities on Strictly, including Robert Webb and Adam Peaty. Read the full line-up here.