Dominic West & Wife Catherine’s Response to Those Lily James PDA Photos Is Hard to Watch

A few disclaimers before we dig in to Wire star Dominic West‘s maybe-maybe not affair with co-star Lily James: we have no idea of the conditions of West and wife Catherine Fitzgerald’s marriage, and it may well be that both West and Fitzgerald are free to find connections elsewhere. It may also be that the paparazzi surrounding West and James as they wandered off-set in Rome simply caught an unfortunate angle, and West wasn’t really kissing her neck quite as much as it looked like he was. Or maybe they were rehearsing for a romantic scene! Any number of additional details are possible, but one fact is undeniably clear. When you’re the wife of a famous actor, and that actor is photographed engaging in some PDA with a leading lady who is not his wife, you’re going to face a lot of questions and a lot of pity. And that alone should have convinced West to, at the very least, better cover his tracks — but since he didn’t, wife Fitzgerald was today put in the position of reacting to these photos for members of the media in a painfully stage response.

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Standing before the press, West and Fitzgerald addressed the crowd as a married couple, reassuring the public that their marriage was still solid. Yes, they did pose for the camera while and kissing, and no, it did not look natural. But suffice it to say that everyone is doing their level best in the wake of an unexpected lapse.

“I just want to say our marriage is strong and we are very much still together,” West assured the media, before handing out a piece of paper stating the same thing and signed by himself and Fitzgerald.

West and James are currently starring in The Pursuit of Love together, and were spotted by paparazzi and anonymous sources continuing to spend time together off set. Fitzgerald has been married to the Affair star since 2010, and they share four children. While we may not understand the dynamics at play here, and we may not quite buy that everything is A-okay in the West-Fitzgerald household, we hope this family is able to work things out.

Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity couples who have stayed together after cheating scandals.