Dominic West has revealed he and his wife Catherine FitzGerald sometimes joked about putting on a “show of unity” after his Lily James photo scandal.
The Wire actor hit headlines in October 2020 when he was photographed looking cosy with his The Pursuit of Love co-star in Rome, Italy. After the snaps were published, Dominic and Catherine put on a united front by posing for the media outside their home and declaring they were still together.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, The Crown star made rare comments about the scandal.
“I hesitate to speak on my wife’s behalf because it was obviously horrible, particularly for her,” he told the outlet, before laughing. “But we do joke about it sometimes.
“Whenever we went out together, the papers would always say we were ‘putting on a show of unity’. Even if we’d just been rowing about parking the car or whatever, even if that couldn’t be further from the truth. And so when we go out we do sort of say, ‘Shall we go and have a show of unity up in London?'”
Despite finding the funny side of the “absurd situation”, Dominic described that time in their life as “deeply stressful”.
In their initial show of unity, Dominic and Catherine, who have four children, kissed and held a sheet of paper that read, “Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together. Thank you. Catherine and Dominic.”
Lily has previously declined to speak about the controversy, telling The Guardian in 2021, “Ach, I’m not really willing to talk about that. There is a lot to say, but not now, I’m afraid.”