The Man Allegedly Stalking Colin Firth’s Wife Is Also the Man She Had an Affair With

It’s hard to imagine that clean-cut Colin Firth and his wife, Livia Giuggioli, would be embroiled in anything even faintly scandalous or scary, but it seems like their number has been called. Unfortunately, Firth and Giuggioli have been in a private legal battle against a man who is allegedly stalking Giuggioli. On Friday, there was truly shocking new development that might make you blink a little in disbelief. According to a statement released by Firth and Giuggioli through their reps, we learned that Giuggioli once had a romantic relationship with her alleged stalker, Marco Brancaccia.

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“A few years ago Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate. During that time, Livia briefly became involved with a former friend, Mr. Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited,” the statement reads. “Subsequently, Mr. Brancaccia carried out a frightening campaign of harassment over several months, much of which is documented. As a consequence of his stalking, threats and refusal to desist, the legal complaint was lodged with the Italian authorities.”

The Firths, for obvious reasons, wanted to keep these details under wraps. That was decidedly not the case when an Italian newspaper printed information about the police investigation into the alleged stalking, and they say they decided to just be open about what happened.

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“The reporting this week on this case is understood to be the consequence of a leaked court document,” their statement continued. “This is greatly to be regretted. It does not serve the interests of any of the parties involved.”

On the other side of things, Brancaccia denies stalking anyone and told reporters that Firth and Giuggioli were just trying to cover up their marital problems.

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“We were romantically involved, she wanted to leave Colin for me,” he said, adding that he and Giuggioli were together for about a year, from 2015 to 2016. “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.”