Russell Crowe’s ex-wife has finally broken her silence on why the couple split.
Danielle Spencer, 56, was married to The Gladiator star, 62, from 2003 until their separation in 2012. The couple’s divorce was finalized in 2018, sparking speculation that neither partner had wholly addressed.
The Australian actress and singer has now put an end to rumors in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald. “There’s been this narrative that Russell’s escalating career and him being away contributed to the break-up of our marriage, but that’s not true for me,” said Spencer.
“I don’t need to be with my partner 24 hours a day to feel safe or secure,” she added.
Spencer also revealed that she met her current partner, Adam, “on the promenade” near where she lives. “He approached me and said we had a tenuous connection: Russell and I had looked at his mother-in-law’s house when it was for sale,” she explained.
“Neither of us has a typical nine-to-five lifestyle,” she shared of herself and Adam, an artist, “So he understands how I live my life. We’re similar, so it works.”
She gushed about her new partner’s “good sense of humor” and “lovely, positive, peaceful energy.”
But Spencer also had warm words for her ex-husband, saying that his most admirable quality is his “loyalty.”
“He’s also a deep thinker. I am an actor as well, so I totally understood him being away on film sets,” she said, adding that Crowe “is a very loving dad.”
The Academy Award-winning actor and Spencer share two sons, Charlie, 22, and Tennyson, 19.
“Our sons stay with him in the summer holidays, and he takes them away mid-year for a few weeks. He gets the holiday times, I get the boring routine,” she shared.
Crowe is currently dating actress Britney Theriot, 42, but has said he doesn’t intend to remarry. The New Zealand-born actor spoke about marriage with Australia’s 60 Minutes in November 2025, saying, “Doing it once is cool... but I don’t want to do it again.”
“We are very very good friends and we have a wonderful relationship. My life is so joyous and happy at the moment. Why would I ruin that with a wedding?” he said.
The actor said he and Theriot do “everything together,” adding, “We’re very happy, man. It’s a very positive life.”
