Cold Feet’s James Nesbitt once fired from six-figure job after huge scandal | Celebrity News | Show and television

James Nesbitt was pulled from a campaign after details of his extramarital affair and alleged cocaine use hit the headlines. In 2002, the Cold Feet star had an affair with a legal secretary he met in a bar while filming in Manchester.

The woman sold her story to the media, claiming that Nesbitt took her to his apartment and inhaled large amounts of cocaine.

He went on to claim the 59-year-old spent £250 a week on the Class A drug and said he confessed to having an affair with Cold Feet co-star Kimberley Joseph, played by Australian Jo Ellison on the hit ITV show.

The allegations were splashed across the front pages of the tabloids, leaving Nesbitt scrambling to save his eight-year marriage to Sonia Forbes-Adam. At the time, Nesbitt was due to appear in a £150,000 campaign promoting Christmas shopping in Belfast.

However, the Northern Irish actor was removed from the campaign after Belfast city officials feared his presence in the ads could have a negative impact on viewers.

A spokesman for the Belfast City Visitor and Convention Bureau said: “Following recent media allegations regarding Mr Nesbitt, it has been decided to withdraw him from the current campaign for Belfast. Work is already progressing on a commercial of television reviewed, which you should be ready to be screened this weekend.”

Nesbitt and his wife, who share two children together, remained together until 2013 before officially divorcing in 2016.

Nesbitt and actress Sarah Parish are set to delve into their family stories in the exciting new DNA series Journey With Ancestry. Both Nesbitt and Parish, who have been friends for more than 20 years, recently experienced the loss of their parents, sparking a mutual interest in exploring their family origins.

Nesbitt, who lost his mother in 2011 and his father in 2020, shares a poignant wish: “In a way, I wish my mom and dad were here to see me make the trip, but I guess that in a way they will be with me. But they are never so far away, if I look at the album of my memory, they are quite bright.”

While Parish discovers a lineage passionate about education, Nesbitt confronts the questionable past of his ancestors when he learns that his great-grandfather ran an unauthorized pub in rural Ireland during the 19th century.

His ancestral search takes Nesbitt further afield in France, where he somberly treads the historic soil of Ulster Tower, tracing his relatives’ service in the Battle of the Somme.

Discovering more about his family’s military connections, Nesbitt learns about his grandfather’s grueling experience as a prisoner of war. However, it is the poignant discovery of his father’s efforts to chronicle these wartime hardships preserved in the Linen Hall library that truly astonishes him.

An emotional Nesbitt admits: “I’m overwhelmed. The eight-year-old asked himself, ‘Was he a hero?’ and I am delighted that that eight-year-old boy is now sitting before you discovering that he really was a heroic man.”