Kenneth Branagh's split from Emma Thompson and affair with Helena Bonham-Carter

Multi-award winning actor and director Kenneth Branagh has been one of the pinnacles of the film, theatre and television industries since he made his entertainment debut in BBC's Billy Plays in 1984.

His three BAFTA wins, two Emmy wins and numerous Academy Award nominations as well as various other accolades demonstrate the 61-year-old's illustrious career having gone from strength to strength.

However, returning to the headlines in recent weeks due to the Golden Globe triumph of his semi-autobiographical comedy-drama, 'Belfast', the Northern Irish megastar has opened up numerous questions from the public surrounding his home life.

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Branagh, who is set to appear as a guest on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, January 21 at 10:35pm, has been married to his film art director wife Lindsay Brunnock since 2003.

Prior to this however, Harry Potter fans might be surprised to discover, that Branagh, who played Gilderoy Lockhart, was actually married to fellow wizard Professor Trelawney herself, Emma Thompson.

The two met in 1987 while filming the television series, Fortunes of War, and were married two years later.

During their relationship, the Hollywood superstars featured side-by-side in productions of Look Back in Anger, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Dead Friends, and Peter's Friends.

It was not meant to be however, as the "golden couple" - as they were dubbed by the British Press - called time on their marriage in 1995, initially citing clashing work schedules as the reason... but this was not the entire picture.

In the weeks following their separation, it emerged that Branagh was in fact engaging in an extra-marital affair with... wait for it... another Harry Potter star - none other than Bellatrix Lestrange herself, Helena Bonham-Carter.

They are believed to have begun their secret relationship on the set of the film Frankenstein in 1994, in which Branagh played the title role and Carter played Frankenstein's adopted sister, Elizabeth.

Despite admitting during a 2013 interview with the Sunday Times to having being heartbroken by her husband's actions during the '90s, she revealed that she and Bonham Carter had made their "peace" years ago and that the divorce was "all blood under the bridge".

She joked that she and her Harry Potter co-star were both "slightly mad and a bit fashion-challenged", adding, "perhaps that’s why Ken loved us both".

Do not despair, Emma Thompson fans, as she soon found love again in the form of her Sense and Sensibility co-star Greg Wise, with whom she now shares daughter Gaia and adopted son, Tindyebwa. The pair were married in 2003.

The same year, Branagh married his current wife Lindsay in what was described as a rather low-key ceremony compared to his lavish wedding to Thompson at Cliveden Country House.

In 2016, the actor, who lives with his wife and their dogs in Berkshire, told the Daily Mail that there was "no mystery" as to why the pair do not have children.

He added, "It just simply hasn’t happened.

"She’s [Lindsay] like most women in that she’s smarter than most men. She’s certainly smarter than me and knows me better than I know myself.

"She understands that it’s great when people love what they do, but also knows they need the right kind of balance in their life."

Kenneth Branagh is set to appear as a guest on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, January 21 at 10:35pm.

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