Inside Russell Brand’s marriage to wife Laura Gallacher: Pair met through her Sky Sports star sister Kirsty and dated when she was 18 – but she finally tamed the hellraising womaniser when they reunited after he carved out a Hollywood career

It was a chance meeting on a canal towpath in London’s East End that changed Laura Gallacher’s life forever.

Eight years ago, heartbroken after her relationship ended, a friend lured her out of her flat for a walk. There, as she strolled near her home, stood Russell Brand – fresh from his own divorce from American singer Katy Perry.

It was “as if he had organized it,” admits Ms Gallacher, the younger sister of television star Kirsty Gallacher and daughter of golfer Bernard Gallacher, 87, who had dated the controversial comedian several years earlier when she was 18 years old.

“I hadn’t seen Russell in years,” she adds. ‘He was so different. We both knew straight away that it was going to be serious.’

Their romance was indeed a whirlwind and they immediately moved in together. “Laura was in love and she wanted to fix it,” says a friend.

Gallacher had already had a relationship with the controversial comedian several years ago, when she was 18 years old

Laura Gallacher with Russell Brand at Scott’s Restaurant on Mount Street, London for David Walliams’ birthday party

Despite her support for her husband, Mrs Gallacher (pictured shopping in London in July) set tongues wagging on Saturday when it emerged she had deleted her Instagram account.

And perhaps that is why, despite sordid claims of rape and abuse of a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Mrs Gallacher is – at least for now – standing by her husband.

“What Russell did was definitely in the past, long before he and Laura met.” the friend added.

“Of course it’s not easy, but they are determined to get through this.”

Despite her support for her husband, Mrs Gallacher set tongues wagging on Saturday when it emerged she had deleted her Instagram account.

Meanwhile, big sister Kirsty, 47, was very busy with hers. She publicly supported her brother-in-law – and showed support for her younger sibling – when she reposted the video along with a giant red love heart emoji – before deleting it shortly after the full extent of the allegations emerged.

She shared the two-minute clip of him denying what were described as “very serious criminal allegations” made against him on Instagram.

However, about an hour after the claims were published, the former Sky Sports presenter removed them from her ‘stories’ on the social media platform. Although Kirsty has so far refused to comment on the matter, friends say Kirsty is fiercely loyal to her sister and has a good relationship with Brand.

Some may be surprised that Brand’s home life remains completely intact in his beautiful £3 million thatched riverside home near Henley in Oxfordshire, but those in the know won’t. Because she is the woman known for taming him after years of living as a hellish womanizer whose busy and colorful love life rarely made it out of the tabloids.

Gallacher’s sister Kirsty (left) publicly supported her brother-in-law. She shared Brand’s video denying the “very serious allegations” but deleted the post shortly after the full extent of it emerged

Laura Gallacher (left) with her sister Kirsty (right). Kirsty posted the video along with a love heart emoji in support of her sister on Instagram before deleting it

Gallacher is the woman known for taming Brand after years of living as a hellasing womanizer whose busy and colorful love life rarely made it out of the tabloids

Ms Gallacher, 36, a ‘mummy blogger’ and author of the parenting book The Joy Journal For Magical Everyday Play, is said to be ‘good-natured’ and, despite coming from a high-profile family, likes to stay out of the spotlight.

Apart from the odd appearance on 48-year-old Brand’s much-viewed YouTube channel, where she makes soft soap or baking trays in the garden, she keeps her head down. There are no red carpet appearances and all photos of the couple are paparazzi shots. She’s the stay-at-home mom who cooks him pesto pasta or frozen pie and fries for dinner and follows him around the world, quietly supporting his travels.

Since they got together in 2015, there hasn’t even been a rumor that Brand has had other lovers, proving that Ms Gallacher, currently heavily pregnant with the couple’s third child, has helped cure his rampant sex addiction.

However, that wasn’t her only experience with Brand. They first met in 2007, when Brand was on Radio 2.

It was through Mrs Gallacher’s big sister Kirsty and they dated for a short time when she was an art student. After their split, Brand headed to Hollywood, where he won a number of film roles and, perhaps more memorably, married Ms. Perry.

After their split, Brand moved back to London where he dated Jemima Goldsmith for a short time.

Ms Gallacher, 36, a ‘mummy blogger’ and author of parenting book The Joy Journal For Magical Everyday Play, is said to be ‘good-natured’ and, despite coming from a high-profile family, likes to stay out of the spotlight

Russell Brand and Laura Gallagher at the British Curry Awards in 2018. The couple have two children, Mabel, six, and Peggy, three, and are expecting a third in November

Recalling the moment she was reunited with him, Mrs Gallacher said: ‘My ex had literally moved out of our flat that day and I was heartbroken, mascara running down my face. A friend took me for a walk to the canal in East London, where I had never been in my life, and when we reached the footpath, Russell was standing there, as if he had organized it.’

A year later they had their first child Mabel, six, then Peggy, three, arrived and in 2017 they married. Their third child is expected in November.

Ms Gallacher, of course, was nowhere to be seen when Brand made his two-minute video on Friday evening in which he insisted that the relationships he had were “absolutely always consensual.” adding that he was “very, very promiscuous.”

Of course, it raises the question of what the Gallacher family really thinks of Brand.

“They are very close and support Laura through this,” said a friend. “Russell isn’t going anywhere.”

For now anyway.