Amanda Abbington and her ex-husband Martin Freeman have firmly stated that their son Joe is ‘not a nepo baby’, with the Strictly star asserting ‘he got it all on his own’.
The 51 year old actress and the 53 year old Sherlock actor, who ended their 16-year relationship in 2016, are parents to 19 year old Joe and 16 year old Grace.
Despite the high-profile acting careers of his parents, Amanda has staunchly defended her son, insisting he hasn’t received any unfair advantages in the entertainment industry.
Joe is poised to make his acting debut in a new series titled The Institute, based on Stephen King’s novel.
Speaking to Richard Eden of the Daily Mail, Amanda revealed: “He’s just done a massive Stephen King show called The Institute, which comes out next year. He spent four months in Canada playing the lead in that. He got it all on his own, without anyone’s help – there was no nepotism there, which was good. None at all.”
In 2023, Joe joined the cast of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie in Tunbridge Wells. He has also made an appearance in an episode of Doctors and featured in a Paul Weller music video.
While Martin may be pleased that his son is following in his footsteps, he has previously confessed to finding it difficult to come to terms with his children leaving home.
The actor admitted that while it’s ‘totally natural’ for teenagers to want their independence, it’s hard not to feel emotional about it.
When asked about his children leaving home, he told Radio Times: “Me and their mum [Amanda] don’t live together so there are times where they’re inevitably going to not be with you, or when they say, “Maybe not this weekend.” It’s hard not to feel hurt when they start doing things that don’t involve you, even though you understand it and welcome it because it’s totally natural.”
Martin and Amanda’s doppelganger kids recently gave us a sneak peek into their family life at home. Last year, Grace took to TikTok to share a bit about her and Joe’s Christmas celebrations with dad Martin at his house, where he lives with girlfriend Rachel Benaissa and their two sausage dogs.
The funny video showed the family lip-syncing to the boyband song from Martin’s famous Christmas film Nativity, titled ‘She’s The Brightest Star’. It offered fans a small look into the actor’s luxurious home, as he and daughter Grace danced in front of an impressive fireplace and large patterned rug.
In another part of the clip, Martin was seen lounging on a plush blue velvet sofa, petting one of his dachshunds and lip-syncing to the song. A particularly amusing moment in the video saw Grace standing in front of a sparkling Christmas tree lip-syncing, before her brother Joe and dad Martin jumped into the frame to be her backup singers.
Martin’s French actress girlfriend Rachel, 31, was seen fully participating as she sang and danced with his son Joe, both cuddling the dogs. Martin and Amanda first met on the set of the film Men Only in 2000 and later portrayed the formidable duo John and Mary Watson in Sherlock.
He has since started dating French actress Rachel. She has starred in numerous roles, including the BBC’s critically acclaimed series Normal People. Amanda is currently dating former stuntman Jonathan Goodwin, a long-time friend before they became romantically involved.
Tragically, just two months into their relationship, Jonathan was left permanently paralysed following a stunt gone wrong, which resulted in him being wheelchair-bound.
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