Amanda Abbington learning about Jonathan Goodwin’s accident, as the couple share wedding details

Amanda Abbington has opened up about the ‘crazy whirlwind’ of events after finding out that her fiancé Jonathan Goodwin had been in an accident.

Jonathan was paralyzed for life in a tragic accident in October 2021, following a stunt in which he attempted to escape from a straitjacket while being hung upside down 30 feet in the air.

The 48-year-old actress began dating the 42-year-old America’s Got Talent star after her split from Martin Freeman.

The couple then confirmed their engagement in 2021 after Goodwin proposed within minutes of meeting the actress for the first time in Vienna.

But just weeks after Jonathan proposed to her, she was in the accident that saw him crushed by two burning cars.

Now speaking about the horrifying moment, Amanda said she initially “didn’t think of the stunt” and shared how she received the news.

speaking to The timesshe said: ‘[The stunt] It was dangerous, but I knew Jonathan was a perfectionist, so I thought no more of it.

“When I woke up the next morning there was a voicemail from his stunt coordinator: ‘Jonathan’s been in an accident. It’s not great news.”

‘Then everything became a mad whirlwind; find out what had happened, take his family there.

He then explained the severity of the accident, sharing that he had fallen and lost a kidney, broke both shoulder blades, broke both legs, broke his spine, and severed his spinal cord.

Amanda continued: ‘Eventually we talked on the phone. She called to say that he was going to have surgery and that there was a good chance that she would not make it.

“He told me he loved me and I honestly thought it would be the last time I’d hear his voice.”

Last year the couple had revealed that they planned to marry in 2022, but he remained coy on details.

Now, Jonathan sharing his life lessons and his gratitude for Amanda has confirmed that the couple will tie the knot in June.

He explained to The Times: ‘I wouldn’t recommend almost dying, but it teaches you a lot about life.

I look at Amanda and pinch myself. This beautiful, wonderful, funny woman likes me and we are getting married in June.

“There’s a part of me that wants to skydive or zip-line to church, but Amanda has made it very clear that this is going to be a traditional wedding. And if I zoom in on my previous career, I suspect it will be one of the shortest marriages ever!

The couple first crossed paths on Twitter in 2012, when they were both involved in other relationships: she with actor Martin Freeman, best known for his work on the comedy The Office and Peter Jackson’s blockbuster The Hobbit, and him with his now ex-wife Katy.

Mutual respect for each other’s work sparked an initial friendship, but it would be another nine years, by which time they were both single, before they fell in love.

By then, Goodwin was residing in Las Vegas, but a seven-hour phone call with Abbington convinced him to relocate to his native Britain, even though he had never met the actress face-to-face.

The couple finally met in person while Abbington was filming in the Austrian capital Vienna, and the actress admitted their first meeting was preceded by her repeatedly texting him “like a giddy schoolgirl.”

Shortly after their engagement, Jonathan was paralyzed by the stunt gone horribly wrong.

Amanda later explained that the timing was misjudged and the cars broke loose too soon, resulting in him being crushed between them when they caught fire.

Now, more than a year after her accident, Amanda has revealed that her fiancé Jonathan is “going from strength to strength”.

She gushed that she’s so in love with her ‘independent and strong’ future husband that she ‘forgets he’s in a wheelchair’.

Speaking on Tuesday’s Lorraine to promote her new comedy series The Family Pile, Amanda revealed that she and Jonathan still plan to get married this summer.

Speaking about her boyfriend, she added: “He’s amazing, he makes me smile.” I love him madly, it’s going from strength to strength.

I forgot that he is in a wheelchair, he is independent and strong. He is genuinely my hero, I don’t know what I would do without him. He is so supportive and beautiful. Wedding in summer is happening.

Previously, the couple had revealed that they planned to get married in 2022, but he remained coy on details.

Appearing in Lorraine in May, Jonathan said: “The wedding is later this year, it’s lovely, we were so excited beforehand.” It’s one of those things where if someone dies, everyone says that he was a wonderful person, but they never get to hear it.

Amanda revealed in May 2022 that her partner now uses a wheelchair after he sustained several serious injuries during rehearsals for America’s Got Talent: Extreme, which has since been cancelled. He was hospitalized for four months with his injuries, before his release in February.

In May of last year, Jonathan shared a post on Instagram, saying that his dog, who finally got to see him again for the first time in six months, was getting used to him having ‘cool new wheels’.

He wrote: ‘Six months ago I went to rehearse for something and left this little fur monkey waiting patiently for me…he didn’t see his dad again until a couple of weeks ago and when he finally did, his dad had new wheels. .

A lot has changed in the last six months, but love is a constant and I am very loved. I look forward to my next chapter and being a role model.

During the couple’s first joint television appearance that same month, Jonathan explained that he had given Amanda a “get out of jail free card” after her accident, but the star insisted that she would always stay by his side. new fiancé.

When Amanda was seen getting emotional, Jonathan said, “I said you have a get out of jail free card, if you want to go I understand and she told me not to be so stupid.”

Elsewhere in the interview, a tearful Amanda, whom Jonathan proposed to only weeks before the accident, went on to say that they are “closer and closer” than ever as a couple and said that Jonathan was her “inspiration”.

We are closer and closer than ever and we have this unspoken thing, we said the other day that we are the people who are going to say yes to things, life is too short, live in the moment and grab it with both hands because we don’t know. what’s around the corner, he said.

‘He is a total inspiration to me. He’s a jerk, I’m a jerk, so he’s fine. And all my friends and family love him, he’s so adorable.’