Rowan Atkinson is one of Britain's most celebrated comedians. Known for his iconic characters Mr Bean and Blackadder, the 71-year-old has created some of comedy's most recognisable characters – and he's about to reprise them in a new West End show.
The Love Actually star will revisit some of his most famous sketches in Rowan Live, teaming up with Blackadder co-writers Richard Curtis and Ben Elton for just 30 performances.
© Matt CrockettWhile Rowan might be one of the most recognisable faces in British comedy, he's not the only famous face in his family. His partner, Louise Ford, is also an actor and comedian. Find out all we know about their relationship below.
Who is Rowan Atkinson's partner?
Rowan Atkinson is in a relationship with actor and comedian Louise Ford.
© Dave Benett/Getty ImagesLouise, who is almost 30 years Rowan's junior, was raised in Beckenham, Kent, by her father, a gas fitter, and her mother, who worked with people with mental disabilities.
After studying English at Southampton University, Louise enrolled at the prestigious London drama school, RADA.
© Corbis via Getty ImagesShe is perhaps best known for playing Kate in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's 2016 sitcom Crashing, and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, in the Channel 4 comedy, The Windsors.
The actress also appeared in the children's sketch series Horrible Histories, as well as the 2024 comedy drama, Avoidance.
Rowan and Louise's relationship timeline
Rowan and Louise met in 2013 while starring together in a West End revival of Simon Gray's play Quartermaine's Terms. News of their relationship broke in 2014, the same year Rowan separated from his wife of 24 years, makeup artist Sunetra Sastry. Rowan and Sunetra, who share two adult children – Ben, 33, and Lily, 31 – divorced in 2015.
© WireImageIn December 2017, Rowan and Louise welcomed their daughter, Isla.
© WireImageDespite their high-profile careers, the couple remain fiercely private and rarely discuss their relationship in interviews.
Louise Ford's relationship with James Acaster
Prior to her romance with Rowan, Louise dated comedian James Acaster from 2011 to 2013.
James, who appears in the latest series of the BBC's Celebrity Traitors, addressed their split in his 2019 comedy special Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999.
© CREDIT LINE:BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry"I found out a year after we split up. I opened the newspaper and there's a photo of the two of them walking arm in arm down the street together and a full story about how they were a couple now," shared James.
"It's my job to say things that are funny, and the funniest thing that's ever happened to anyone happened to me, and I put it on the back burner out of respect. Until you get left for Mr Bean, you don't realise how frequently he pops up. There's a shop two streets from my house that sells masks of his face. There's nowhere where I'm going to go that he's not there."
