Ruth Jones’ estranged husband David Peet is now living in Canada with his new partner, following the end of his 26-year marriage to the Gavin & Stacey star.
On Wednesday, the couple confirmed that they had legally separated 18 months ago in a joint statement.
The pair, who married in 1999, told the PA news agency: “We amicably went our separate ways 18 months ago and are now legally separated. We remain good friends.
“Since our separation, Ruth is living in London and David is living in Canada, where he is in a new relationship.”
Peet, 71, a television producer and co-founder of Jones’ production company Tidy Productions, is understood to have relocated to British Columbia to be with education assistant Jayne Charity Cook, 46.
As reported by MailOnline, Cook, who works at a school on the Tsulquate Reserve, has publicly shared their relationship on social media.
Her Facebook profile displays a photograph of her and Peet smiling together, and earlier this year she posted on Threads: “Spent the weekend with my love and had an amazing time.”
The outlet reported that she describes herself online as a “MommaBear” and proud mother to two adult children, Alexander and Isabella, as well as a grandmother to three.
Jones, 58, is stepmother to Peet’s children from a previous relationship, and the former couple previously divided their time between homes in Cardiff and the Scottish Highlands.
Jones has appeared at a number of public events without her wedding ring in recent months — including at the Bath Literary Festival in May, where she was promoting her latest novel By Your Side.
The book centres on Linda, a recently divorced woman starting over — a character Ruth Jones says is loosely based on herself: a teetotal woman in her 50s, fuller-figured and quick-witted.
Speaking to the audience at the festival, Jones revealed that Linda leaves a long-term marriage after discovering her husband has had an affair with a colleague.
“The other thing I really love about her is that she was married and she got divorced and she gets on fine with her ex-husband,” Jones said. “It was never a really great big romantic marriage. They got on fine. They had a good sex life but that was kind of it. They were good friends.”
Jones explained that the character’s husband eventually left to start a new life with a woman named Denise, opening a café in Spain called Doolallies — a decision Linda accepted without bitterness.
“She was quite happy to see him go,” Jones said.
Jones rose to fame as the co-writer and star of Gavin And Stacey, playing Vanessa ‘Nessa’ Jenkins, in three series and three Christmas specials from 2007 to 2024.
The show’s finale episode, which aired on Christmas Day 2024, saw Jones’s character Nessa marry Neil “Smithy” Smith, played by her fellow co-writer James Corden.
At this year’s TV Baftas, Jones won the best female performance in a comedy for her role in Gavin and Stacey.
In 2014, Jones was made a Member Of The Order Of The British Empire (MBE) in the New Year Honours for her services to entertainment.
