January 2021: The beginning of the end
Gruffudd filed for divorce in March 2021, shortly after Evans claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years was walking out on her and their two daughters.
October 2021: Ioan goes public with his new love
After Evans’ explosive announcement about her split all seemed to quieten down until October 2021 when she took to Twitter to claim to her 29,000 followers that her estranged husband had been cheating on her for three years with a much younger woman.
Evans implied that her ex had gaslighted her for years, betraying her and their two daughters (but did not offer any evidence to support her accusation).
February 2022: Ioan files for a restraining order against Alice
After months of pointed tweets and social media posts made by Evans, Gruffudd responded by filing for a restraining order, submitting 113 pages of unhinged texts and emails that had not previously been made public.
In his court filing, Gruffudd claimed he told Evans that he wanted out of the marriage in August 2020 and that since then, she had harassed him with hundreds of unanswered text messages, abusive emails and social media posts – many of which he included in the filing.
He claimed she verbally threatened to tell the media he had abused her ‘do what Amber Heard did to Johnny Depp’.
Inside the most bitter divorce in Hollywood: A look back at Alice Evans and Ioan Gruffudd’s shock slanging match (pictured in 2004)
June 2022: Alice begs fans for money to pay for a divorce lawyer
As their divorce proceedings entered its 15th month, Evans claimed to be ‘completely out of money for food and bills.’
She claimed she would receive no financial support from Gruffudd and that she was struggling to pay her legal fees and would be unable to ‘feed or clothe’ their daughters with her dwindling funds.
July 2022: Ioan asks for joint custody of daughters
After Evans filed for sole custody of their daughters, Gruffudd filed for custody and visitation rights to see his children, claiming in the filing that Evans had been purposely trying to cut communication between himself and the children.
He also petitioned that the girls attend in-person therapy and reunification therapy via zoom with him pending court-ordered mediation about custody.
In the filing, Gruffudd reiterated allegations that Evans had been verbally abusing during their 14-year marriage, and ‘undermin[ing him] in front of the girls throughout their lives.’
August 2022: Ioan gets a three-year restraining order against Alice
Having previously been awarded a temporary restraining order against his estranged wife, Gruffudd successfully obtained a three-year restraining order against Evans in August 2022.
Harsher restrictions were put in place by a US judge, including a ruling preventing Alice from leaking private text messages from their children.
In the court documents, Gruffudd claimed Evans continued to cause him issues and wanted additional provisions added to the existing restraining order.
He also requested Evans not post his text messages or any other communications to the parties’ children, or the children’s text messages or any other communications to Ioan, on any social media account.
Gruffudd also asked for the judge to order Evans not to contact his employer or make disparaging statements about him to his employers.
October 2021: Ioan went public with his new love Bianca Wallace, posting a picture with the Australian actress who is 21 years younger than Alice
September 2022: Ioan and Alice’s child custody battle hits a wall
Two months after Gruffudd filed for joint custody of his two daughters and asked for custody and visitation rights, the exes failed to settle their differences in family court, despite the help of a mediator.
Court documents showed the exes meeting was set for 31 August and that mediation had taken place but that ‘no agreement’ had been reached.
The document went on to confirm that that both Gruffudd and Evans had completed the mandatory Our Children First program.
The Superior Court of Los Angeles states of the program that: ‘Parents are required by law to attend a mediation orientation/parent education program and a mediation session prior to appearing at an Order to Show Cause or Trial regarding the custody and/or visitation of their children.’
November 2022: Alice is reported to police over claims of ‘child abuse’ and drug use
Amid her ongoing custody battle, Evans claimed that someone called social services and the police on her with concerns over child abuse and drug and drink use.
The actress took to Twitter to allege that someone had sent authorities to her property who then found ‘absolutely no signs of abuse’ and ‘no drugs or drink’.
July 2022: Ioan asked for joint custody of their daughters Ella, 13 and Elsie, nine, claiming Alice had been trying to cut communication between himself and the children (pictured in 2018
February 2023: Child custody agreement is stalled again after Alice is charged with ‘violating restraining order’
Evans appeared in court in February 2023 to answer two charges of violating a restraining order that was put in place by her estranged husband.
The warring former couple were scheduled to appear later that month at a custody hearing but Evans asked for a postponement.
Her attorney, Marie LaMolinara, argued that testimony Alice gives at the custody hearing could be used against her in her later criminal trial, which would violate her right, under the 5th Amendment, not to incriminate herself.
March 2023: Charges against Alice are dropped
Prosecutors in Los Angeles dropped charges against Evans who had been accused of defying a restraining order the Welsh actor has against her.
Evans had pleaded not guilty to two counts of violating the order and at a hearing at LA’s Airport Courthouse, Commissioner James Cooper dismissed the charges after prosecutors told the court they were ‘unable to proceed.’
At a follow-up hearing, Evans’ attorney, public defender, Daniel Stefanic, filed a motion asking for a ruling that would declare her ‘factually innocent’ of the charges.
August 2022: Ioan successfully obtained a three-year restraining order against Alice that banned her from mentioning him or his girlfriend on social media (Ioan and Bianca pictured May 2022)
May 2023: Alice moves out of $2million family home as ex Ioan is ‘too poor’ to pay for it
Evans and her children moved out of her family home and into a rented abode with their two daughters after Gruffudd pleaded with a court to allow the home to be sold, saying he didn’t have the money to keep up with mortgage payments for his family following their split in 2021.
The Fantastic Four star told a court in a document filed last year that neither he nor Evans could afford the $6,750 a month in mortgage payments, insurance and property tax.
He said he’d had just one paid job in the past year and was so poor he was relying on handouts from his young girlfriend.
May 2023: Ella, 13, applies for a restraining order against dad Ioan and his girlfriend Bianca
The teenage daughter of Evans and Gruffudd asked for a restraining order against her famous father and his girlfriend in documents filed on May 31 at the Los Angeles Superior Court.
In the documents, Ella stated that she is ‘afraid’ of her father and accuses him of ‘threatening to call the police on her anytime she misbehaves’ during their visitations.
Ella filed for a domestic violence restraining order against her father following what she said was an ugly incident at their home, during which she claims Bianca ‘slammed a door on her head’.
In her filing against her father, Ella requested that he be made to keep at least 100 yards away from her and not contact her for five years and asks that Gruffudd be ordered to undergo a ’52-week batterer intervention program’.
The program, which involves weekly classes, is intended – the document states – to ‘stop abuse, teach accountability, abuse effects, and gender roles’.
Ella requested that the restraining order also cover her nine-year-old sister Elsie, noting that she ‘lives with her sister and is afraid that [Ioan] will abuse and/or continue to allow abuse to happen to my sister too’.
She also asked that her father be made to pay ‘for some or all of her lawyer’s fees and costs’ and requests that her phone account and that of her sister Elsie’s be transferred to their mother, alleging that Gruffudd has ‘threatened to cancel my sister’s phone account and my phone account’.
Along with her domestic restraining order filing, Ella included a declaration as evidence to support her case, in which she shared her recollection of a bitter spat that she claims took place while she and her nine-year-old sister Elsie were visiting their father’s home on May 26.
Ella admitted that she was ‘so mad’ at her father to find that Wallace was at his apartment when she arrived that she began throwing food on his bed, on the floor, and on him, before she attempted to flee the apartment – which, she says, is when the actress ‘slammed a door on her head’, leaving her with ‘a small bump’ and a ‘bruise on her arm’.
May 2023: The teenage daughter of Alice and Ioan asked for a restraining order against her famous father and his girlfriend in documents filed on May 31 (Alice and Ella pictured)
June 2023: Ioan accuses Alice of abusing him via fake Twitter accounts
In court documents seen by MailOnline, Gruffudd claimed his estranged wife screamed at him outside his Los Angeles home and called him a ‘f***ing abuser’ and ‘abusive c***’ in front of their 13-year-old daughter.
Gruffudd also claimed Evans repeatedly broken a three-year restraining order he took out against her which has resulted in criminal charges – and flashed him while wearing no underwear when their children were being dropped off.
The bombshell papers also contained claims from Gruffudd that: Evans has made ‘thousands of false, threatening and harassing posts’ about him; Evans claims to be home-schooling Ella, but has ‘provided no information’; Evans has interfered with the girls’ therapy and they are missing appointments; and Ella poured rolled oats from a bag over his head, which left him ‘in shock’.
July 2023: Ioan and Alice are declared legally divorced
In a court order handed down in LA Superior Court, Judge Josh Freeman Stinn finally granted Gruffudd’s request for divorce amid the couple’s ongoing custody battle.
The Welsh actor had filed for bifurcation and termination of marital status in May which would allow him and Evans to be declared legally divorced even as they continue settlement negotiations in their split.
A minute order obtained by DailyMail.com show the judge approved the request on July 3, ruling: ‘The Court finds irreconcilable differences have arisen in the marriage and grants judgment for the dissolution of marriage as to status only, effective today.’
July 2023: Ioan’s daughter loses bid for domestic violence restraining order against him
Two months after Ella filed documents a judge at the Los Angeles Superior Court dismissed an application by Ella for a domestic violence restraining order.
Gruffudd was present in court, along with Ms Evans for the hearing, as well as the lawyer appointed as the minor’s counsel last month.
The judge ruled: ‘The minor’s request for a domestic violence restraining order against the petitioner is hereby dismissed without prejudice.’
The decision came three weeks after the teenager’s bid to get a civil protection order against Gruffudd’s actress girlfriend Bianca Wallace, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was also denied.
Ioan said: Friends of the Liar star said he was ‘very relieved’ at the outcome. They also claimed that the situation is a ‘nightmare’ but they are ‘happy to see some progress’.
August 2023: Ioan accuses Alice of ‘child abuse’ and keeping their daughters from him
A Los Angeles judge attempted to shield Gruffudd and Evans from the fallout of their parents’ ugly battles by banning the press from a custody hearing, keeping the proceedings secret.
But that didn’t stop the warring former couple – who are both seeking custody of the girls – from taking vitriolic shots at each other in written court filings that are public and not sealed.
The Welsh star called his ex a ‘child abuser’ – while Evans claimed Gruffudd hadn’t seen or called his children for almost three months, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com.
Ioan said: ‘Alice has continued to inflict serious emotional harm on Ella and Elsie by her statements and by interfering in my relationship with them.
‘Alice has verbally abused and undermined me in front of the girls throughout their lives.
‘Since January 2021, Alice has also encouraged and instructed them not to see me or communicate with me and she has made thousands of threatening and abusive communications to me and about me.’
Alice said: ‘I have read and disagree with the declaration of petitioner (Gruffudd) as to allegations that I am inflicting or causing our children ”serious emotional harm”.
‘No one has ever contacted me or reported me for such conduct. No professional, nor teacher, nor school administrator, nor counsel, nor therapist.
‘Petitioner has not seen, complied with, nor called the children for 11 weeks. I don’t understand how having no recent information, “petitioner believes” there is an urgency such that a child custody evaluation must be commenced.’
June 2023: Ioan claimed in bombshell court documents that Alice has interfered with their daughters’ therapy sessions and they are missing appointments
