Inside life of DNA Journey James Nesbitt from co-parenting with new girlfriend to career scandal

Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt is on our screens yet again tonight as he uncovers his family's past on DNA Journey With Ancestry.

He is the next celebrity to discover his roots on the show alongside his close friend Sarah Parish. Both James and Sarah have recently lost parents and are on a quest to find close family connections.

In the episode, James finds his great-grandfather was particularly adept at evading the law, running an illegal pub in Ireland during the late 1800s.

Nesbitt, who lost his mother in 2011 and his father in 2020, shares a poignant wish: "In a way I wish my mum and dad were here to see me go on the journey, but I suppose they will be with me in a sense. But also they're never that far away, if I look into the album of my memory, they're there pretty bright."

Nesbitt has become a star on TV thanks to roles in Cold Feet, Bloody Sunday, The Missing, Bloodlands and The Passion. He has also made some film appearances, including as the dwarf Bofur in The Hobbit films.

This is what we know about the life of James Nesbitt, his career, how a scandal rocked his career and his current life as a co-parent.

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James Nesbitt's early life and career

Born in Ballymena on January 15, 1965, the family enjoyed rural life and was safe away from the Troubles during the 1960s and 1970s.

The family moved to Coleraine in County Londonderry where his parents took him to audition for the Riverside Theatre's Christmas production of Oliver!. Nesbitt sang Queen classic Bohemian Rhapsody at the audition and won the part of the Artful Dodger in his acting debut.

Nesbitt got the acting bug and appeared in local productions before enrolling at the Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) to become an actor.

Nesbitt eventually got his acting break and made his feature film debut in the 1991 comedy drama film Hear My Song alongside Line of Duty icon Adrian Dunbar. He later appeared in Go Now, Ballykissangel and Resurrection Man before he made his breakthrough role as Adam Williams in ITV series Cold Feet.

James won a number of awards for his performance on the show and saw him go on to have a successful TV career in hits such as Murphy's Law, The Canterbury Tales, Jekyll, The Deep and Baylon.

The Northern Irish actor has recently appeared in The Secret, Lucky Man, Line Of Duty, Stay Close and Suspect.

In 2023, he performed a spoken word piece at the Coronation Concert, to mark the coronation of King Charles III and Camilla.

James Nesbitt once axed from six-figure job after scandal

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

The woman sold her story to the media, claiming Nesbitt took her back to his flat and snorted large amounts of cocaine.

She went on to claim that the actor spent £250 a week on the Class A drug and said he confessed to having an affair with Cold Feet co-star Kimberley Joseph, who played Australian Jo Ellison in the hit ITV show.

The allegations were splashed on the front page of the tabloids, leaving Nesbitt fighting to save his eight-year marriage to Sonia Forbes-Adam. At the time, Nesbitt had been due to appear in a £150,000 campaign promoting shopping in Belfast in the run-up to .

However, the Northern Irish actor was edited out of the campaign after Belfast city officials feared that his presence in the ads might have a negative impact on viewers.

Who is James Nesbitt's ex-wife?

James Nesbitt was married to fellow actress Sonia Forbes-Adams for nearly 20 years. The pair first met at Loughborough Hall in 1989 and later married in 1994.

Daughter of Reverend Sir Timothy Forbes Adam, Sonia is perhaps best known for playing Maryon Yorck in the 1996 film, Witness Against Hitler.

James shares two children with Sonia, namely Peggy and Mary who are both actresses and played the daughters of Bard the Bowman in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

The couple announced their separation in October 2013 and they went on to divorce in 2016. Following the divorce, James Nesbitt told Radio Times: "I certainly regret things, but I'm also aware that I can't change them.

"You can try to learn from it. I regret any pain that was caused."

He continued: "I think separating has an impact because you look at why it happened and you see mistakes that were made. I'm lucky enough to be able to look back at stuff and say, 'Oh well that was then, I've had a good lash at that, and this is now.'"

Becoming a father again at 59

Following his split from Sonia, James Nesbitt began dating Katy Gleadhill in 2015. They split in 2021 over their different views over starting a family.

After their split, Katy became pregnant and gave birth to daughter Fiadh. In 2023, James Nesbitt and Katy Gleadhill reunited and he decided he wanted to co-parent Fiadh with Katy.

Nesbitt said becoming a father figure for the youngster was a happy surprise late in his life.

He said: "I don’t talk about it that much, but it’s been great. I have Peggy and Mary, they’ve been the great love affairs of my life, and now I’m co-parenting ­Fiadh and she’s wonderful. She really is tremendous."