A little over two years ago, Alice Evans, the woman at the center of Hollywood’s most heated divorce battle, launched a GoFundMe page.
In a post on the page, Alice, 56, stressed that she could no longer afford to buy food, pay her utility bills or pay the legal fees for her settlement battle with her ex-husband and father of her two children, British actor Ioan Gruffudd.
She added that she was ‘struggling as a single mother to my babies’ and told how her bank accounts, savings and even her pension pot had been ’emptied’, asking her followers for ‘anything you can spare’.
The 102 Dalmatians actress also said she feared she would be found guilty of contempt of court if she didn’t find the means to hire a lawyer to represent her at future hearings. In total, her desperate pleas raised just $6,974 of her $25,000 goal.
Actors Alice Evans and Ioan Gruffudd in 2018 with daughters Ella, now 14, and Elsie, now ten
But was Alice really broke when she set up the GoFundMe page?
She and Ioan finally reached an agreement on their divorce and custody arrangements two months ago. But the legal hearing over finances, which began this month, reveals a new aspect to the saga.
In shocking court documents filed by Gruffudd on Tuesday night, he alleges that Alice had a total of $86,457 in available funds in two accounts at the time she asked fans for money.
Her UK account (converted from pounds to dollars), Gruffud claims, contained $78,740, while her US account had a balance of $7,717. Yet on November 12, 2022, she wrote on social media: ‘So that’s it, I’m completely broke. I have a w/e of three days [weekend] for me, two kids to feed, care for and ZERO on the couch,
“I’ve spent my savings for the past two years since my ex left me. I paid for everything while being a full-time mom. Now it’s all gone.”
Documents filed by her ex-husband this week showed she had a total of $24,766 to her name “during the same period.”
Alice has repeatedly claimed she was having money problems due to her long-running feud with Ioan, 50, her husband of 14 years, who is now engaged to actress Bianca Wallace, 31.
The couple met when they starred as on-screen love interests in 101 Dalmatians (pictured)
According to court documents, he was bombarded with emotional messages from his ex-wife, who claimed she couldn’t pay her rent. Ioan says Alice “threatened” his relationship with their two daughters Ella, 14, and Elsie, 10, in October 2023, writing to him: “It won’t be possible to continue with the things we are doing to repair your relationship because I don’t know where we are going.”
But according to Ioan’s recent court statement, Alice’s financial records show she had $17,735.55 at the beginning of the month and later received an additional $13,994.
A month later, the newspapers reported, Alice wrote to Ioan that their daughters would no longer receive Christmas stockings or presents as they normally would, because she “had no more money.”
Another flashpoint in the bitter split was a gleaming Rolex watch worn by Ioan’s new fiancé, which Alice claimed was a gift from the actor two months ago. Court documents allege that Alice claimed that even though Bianca wore a Rolex, she “couldn’t feed their children” and “had to live on food stamps.”
Ioan claims the watch belongs to a friend and a member of his circle of acquaintances said: ‘It was ridiculous to claim that Ioan had bought it for her when she had no idea whether or not that was true.’
Meanwhile, Ioan claims he has overpaid Alice by almost $400,000 in child support. As a result, friends of Ioan, the Welsh heartthrob who starred in the 2016 ITV drama Liar, say he has become “increasingly irritated” by Alice’s claims that she is destitute.
One told the Mail: ‘It was so frustrating for Ioan to watch this as he was paying her expenses. It’s clear she was publicly claiming on social media that she was on her toes.
“It is highly likely that some of those who donated had less money in their accounts than they did. It is quite insulting. It is such a sad situation and one that makes him worry more about his daughters than he should.
‘He’s thinking mostly about his girls Ella and Elsie, who he loves dearly. Ioan would do anything to make sure they don’t have to go through all this.’
Alice Evans goes grocery shopping in Los Angeles this week with one of her daughters
While Ioan has remained largely silent during the feud, Alice – who has American parents but grew up in Bristol – regularly vents her frustrations on X (formerly Twitter). A friend of the star said: ‘Ioan wishes she wouldn’t do that. He wishes they could just sort this out in peace, so their daughters don’t get dragged into a public row. It’s deeply sad for him.’
All in all, it has been a sad story, and one that has gripped the show business world. But like so many relationships that turn sour over time, it had started out so promisingly.
Gruffudd is now engaged to Bianca Wallace. According to court documents, Alice claimed that although Bianca wore a Rolex, she “couldn’t feed their children” and “had to live on food stamps”
Ioan and Alice met on the set of 102 Dalmatians over 20 years ago, when they played on-screen lovers Kevin and Chloe. They fell in love in real life, and on New Year’s Day 2006, he popped the question.
A lavish wedding in Mexico followed, and then came Ella and Elsie. The family settled in Los Angeles, where they became known as one of Hollywood’s hottest couples.
But cracks began to appear in their marriage. Then the war of words began, which quickly escalated into a split and Ioan fought for 50/50 custody of his children.
The feud, which has now been raging for more than three years, culminated in Alice being granted a restraining order in February 2022 after she posted a series of messages about Ioan and his new girlfriend Bianca on social media and allegedly sent him more than 100 text messages. Court documents revealed that Alice had branded him a “child molester” online, and Ioan accused her of setting up anonymous social media accounts – as many as 22 on Twitter/X – which she would use to smear him to her followers.
Alice denies assaulting or harassing him, but her sentence was extended to three years, meaning she is still banned from posting anything about Ioan or his fiancée until August 2025.
Gruffudd and Mrs Evans enjoy a night out together in London in 2007
In August of last year, a Los Angeles judge granted Gruffudd’s request to have his two daughters go to therapy and ordered Evans to take them to weekly “reunion sessions.”
But in his income and expenditure statement filed on Tuesday, Ioan says Alice repeatedly refused to take their daughters to sessions or, if she did, interrupted them. On one occasion, he says, she “abruptly” threw herself to the floor and claimed she had had a panic attack.
He also accused Alice of “creating dramatic scenes”, “calling an ambulance for herself during a session” and “encouraging” the children to leave within minutes of arriving at the session.
Ioan also said that Alice had accused the therapist of favoritism and had argued with the therapist “in front of the children.” He added that no full session had been completed because of the incidents he referred to.
Ioan wrote of their sessions: ‘I believe it was Alice’s own continued interference and alienation that made the reunification therapy unsuccessful.’
But he confirmed that despite everything, he had made the “difficult” decision in June to settle his claim for joint custody.
Ioan lashed out at her again, writing in the newspaper that his decision to settle was partly due to “Alice’s tendency to abuse the family law process to remain relevant in the public eye, at the expense of me and our children.”
He also indicated in the documents that he had spent only nine hours with his children this year.
As a friend of Ioan’s says: ‘It’s been absolutely hellish for him and has made him suspect a level of deceit from Alice. It’s awful but it’s especially sad for the children, so sad that they’ve grown up in this awful separation.’
Next up is a court hearing between the warring parties, where I am told that “significantly more information and evidence” will be aired. As one source told me: “If you think this is over, you are mistaken.”