Lenny Henry’s divorce made worse by being in ‘public eye’

Sir Lenny Henry feels fame made his divorce from Dawn French harder than it should have been.
The 58-year-old comedian has opened up about the end of his 25-year marriage to the ‘Vicar of Dibley’ star – who he split up with in 2010 and adopted a daughter together in 1991 – and how much of an impact being in the public eye had on their relationship.
He admitted: "It is a strange job, showbiz, because you are in the public eye. You are in a goldfish bowl. We just got through it like every family does."
Asked if it was heart-breaking calling time on their marriage, According to The Sun newspaper, he said: "There’s generally a situation where one partner wants the marriage to finish more than the other.
"I think maybe one of us did, then the other one did, and then the other did over a period of time and then, in the end, we thought, ‘Oh, actually maybe we both do’. We knew it wasn’t possible to continue."
The ‘True Identity’ star also reflected on his parent’s marriage and how "tough" it was for them to go through marital issues without being the spotlight.
He said: "My mum and dad went through stuff and they raised seven of us. It was tough for them and they were not on telly.
"Everybody is interested in you when you are on TV. But when you have got seven kids and you are living in Dudley and you have got nine jobs… nobody cares right?"
Dawn, 59, remarried to charity boss Mark Bignell in 2013, and the buxom brunette says he taught her to be "cheerful" again.
At the time, she said: "I’m maybe not quite as cheerful as you might I imagine.
"Optimism and ­cheerfulness are a massive gift that many people don’t have.
"I remarried and I married a very cheerful man, and I’ve come to realise just how ­important cheerfulness is – it’s a wonderful thing."