Inside Jude Law's Complicated Love Life

Once described as "the most beautiful man who ever walked the earth" by co-star Naomi Watts, it's safe to say that Jude Law is popular with the ladies. Watts (who also called Law "an absolutely perfect oil painting" after People named him the Sexiest Man Alive) appeared opposite the British heartthrob in the film I Heart Huckabees, released in 2004. Law's first marriage had not long come to an end and he was one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors, with women apparently lining up to try and snag him. He's been linked with dozens of famous females in the years that followed, and a number of unknown beauties, too. While some of his supposed dalliances remain the stuff of legend, others have been confirmed with photographs and, well, babies.

Law has a total of six children by four different women at this stage. While the A-lister is reportedly settled with the mother of the most recent addition, the road to his happy place has been a long and scandal-hit one. At one stage the actor's name became shorthand for cheat, exemplified by a joke at his expense in Sex and the City 2. "Little things like that used to freeze my blood," he told The Telegraph. "I would be left absolutely crippled." He's apparently a changed man nowadays, but will he ever live his wild past down?

From allegations of swinger parties to secret dates with Hollywood starlets, let's take a deep dive into Jude Law's complicated love life.

Jude Law met his first wife, actor Sadie Frost, on the set of 1994 crime drama Shopping. Frost was married to Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp at the time, but she fell head over heels for her 19-year-old co-star. "The force of the love I felt for Jude and his intense ambition made me feel out of control," Frost said in her book Crazy Days (via the Mirror), which gave readers an insight into what the press dubbed "The Primrose Hill set." This upscale part of London was home to a host of hot young stars at the time, and hedonistic parties were apparently thrown on a regular basis. According to reports, Law and Frost's marriage began to crumble when they decided to step things up a notch.

In a bombshell report by the now defunct British tabloid the News of the World, it was alleged that the actors engaged in a partner-swap with Supergrass drummer Danny Goffey and his singer girlfriend (and now wife), Pearl Lowe. Sources claimed that Law became infatuated with Lowe, and that was the beginning of the end for him and Frost. "When Sadie found out, she flew into a rage and had to be calmed down by a remorseful Jude," an insider said (via Female First). Law vehemently denied the tabloid's claims, but Frost was quoted by the News of the World (via The Guardian) as saying: "The story's correct — even though I wish it wasn't."

Sadie Frost struggled with depression during her marriage to Jude Law. Her issues reportedly began after their first son, Rafferty, was born in 1996. "Jude was away a lot, while I was sitting on the sofa, getting fatter and gripped by a nagging sense that I was jeopardising my love," she wrote in Crazy Days (via the Mirror). In her book, Frost revealed that she resorted to self-harm after a night of hard partying left her feeling overwhelmingly guilty. "I appeared to have cut myself," she recalled. "There was no sense of panic within me — I just felt empty."

Frost got the help she needed and became Mrs. Jude Law the following year. The couple moved Stateside for Law's career and welcomed their daughter, Iris, in 2000, at which point Frost's problems returned. "The more we had to socialise at grand dinner parties in Hollywood, the more I felt my self-esteem slipping away," she said. Her post-natal depression came back stronger than ever when second son, Rudy, was born in 2002. Frost's agent arranged a mental health check for her, and when the actor tried to bolt mid-assessment, she was sectioned for 28 days.

According to papers obtained by Reuters (per Entertainment Weekly), Frost blamed Law for exacerbating her condition. The mother-of-three claimed that her movie star husband's behavior towards the end forced her to seek treatment for depression on three separate occasions. The marriage was officially dissolved in 2003.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, or call the National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264).

Jude Law didn't waste much time moving on after his split from Sadie Frost. The terms of their divorce were still being finalized when pap shots of the actor getting super close to his Alfie co-star, Sienna Miller, hit the press, sparking rumors of an affair. "That was all blown out of proportion," Miller told London's Evening Standard in 2003. "It was just a bit of fun, and while it might have looked like he was kissing me, it was nothing of the sort." Miller made it clear that she wasn't comfortable discussing Law during the interview, but she did say that people in her line of work often "fall a little bit in love... on some artistic level."

When he was quizzed about their relationship status a few months later, Law was vague with his answer, neither confirming nor denying his involvement with Miller. "It seems they'll write anything at the moment," the star told The Guardian when asked about all the tabloid attention. It appears as though he may have been trying to throw people off the scent, however, because on Christmas Day the following year, Law proposed. "Jude has bought Sienna a big cluster diamond ring," the actor's rep said. What he didn't do, according to reports, is inform his ex. Insiders told the Evening Standard that Law let the kids break the news to Frost, who was said to have been "annoyed" at finding out that way.

Before he got down on one knee and asked Sienna Miller to marry him in 2004, Jude Law is said to have went on a low-key date with an up-and-coming starlet by the name of Scarlett Johansson, fresh off her star-making turn opposite Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Law was reportedly 31 at the time, while Johansson would have been a fresh-faced 19-year-old. Perhaps because of the age gap (or the fact that Law was supposed to be all loved up with Miller around then), the two allegedly sought out a quiet corner in the bar of London's swanky Dorchester Hotel, where nobody would bother them. "Both were smiling," an anonymous patron told the News of the World (via SFGate). "When they left Jude gave her a big hug and a kiss. They were really close."

According to the tabloid's source, Miller was becoming increasingly wary of Johansson at the time. She's said to have been on edge as Law rubbed shoulders with the younger woman at the BAFTA Awards that year. "Sienna didn't like Jude talking to Scarlett one bit," said the insider, who went on to claim that Miller was finding it harder and harder to get hold of Law on the phone. This one was never confirmed, though Page Six named Law as one of the men in Johansson's "rearview mirror" when it chronicled her romantic past in 2017.

His supposed romancing of Scarlett Johansson may have never happened for all we know, but Jude Law most definitely had a fling with another woman while with Sienna Miller. One of the biggest scandals of its day erupted when the nanny of Law's kids sold her story, revealing graphic details of an affair with the Hollywood star. Daisy Wright told the Sunday Mirror that she and Law got physical on numerous occasions while the actor filmed All the King's Men in New Orleans, and she kept a diary of the whole thing. "It was amazing," she told the tabloid. "Jude was a masterful lover who made my whole body tingle."

The 26-year-old claimed that one of Law's children actually caught them in bed together, which, needless to say, was not a good look for the A-lister. To get ahead of the inevitable media circus, Law came clean about the affair immediately. "Following the reports in today's papers, I just want to say I am deeply ashamed and upset that I've hurt Sienna and the people most close to us," Law said in a statement (via People). "I want to publicly apologize to Sienna and our respective families for the pain that I have caused. There is no defense for my actions which I sincerely regret." His fiancée's mom, Josephine Miller, told the Mirror that her daughter was "too angry for tears" when she found out what had been going on behind her back.

Unsurprisingly, Sienna Miller ended her engagement to Jude Law following those embarrassingly detailed revelations from the nanny of his children. "They have definitely come to the end of the road," an insider told People. "They tried to make it work but it failed." That insider was speaking too soon, however, because just a few months later the actors were back on again. "It was one of those can't live with them, can't live without them [situations]," a friend of the couple said at the time. But what about the whole torrid affair thing? Was Miller really willing to accept it for what it was and move on? Well, yes.

When she sat down for an interview with Rolling Stone in 2006, Miller appeared to excuse Law's infidelity, which didn't go down well with some of the music mag's female readers. "I don't know, monogamy is a weird thing for me," Miller said (via People). "It's an overrated virtue, because, let's face it, we're f****** animals." There was a general feeling that Miller was letting her cheating man off the hook a little too easily. When the backlash began to mount, she spoke out and attempted to clarify her comments. "I said that although monogamy is something I hugely aspire to and respect, it is something that society has placed upon us and it's not always easy to be," she told Access Hollywood (via UPI). "I'm a very monogamous person."

Sadly, Jude Law and Sienna Miller's efforts to repair their relationship post Nanny-gate ended in failure. By 2007, the Sleuth star was single and, apparently, more than ready to mingle. Law was getting linked with numerous women at the time, some of them relative unknowns, others just as famous as him. One of the first names thrown out was Lindsay Lohan, though no proof ever materialized. In March of that year, reports emerged suggesting that Law had fallen for yet another co-star — this time, insiders said, it was Natalie Portman, who starred alongside Law in Closer and reunited with him for My Blueberry Nights. "Jude thinks she's beautiful and they get along very well," an insider said (via AceShowbiz).

In April, People sources claimed that Kim Hersov, the American-born editor of Britain's Harper's Bazaar magazine, was Law's new girlfriend. The actor was said to have whisked Hersov away on an exotic vacation (the two were seen visiting an ancient fort in Rajasthan, India), but it apparently wasn't meant to be. The chic magazine editor disappeared off the scene and was replaced by German model and actor Susan Hoecke. Law and Hoecke were seen in Berlin together, dining at a fancy restaurant before returning to the same hotel, reports said. And then came the rumors that Law and his on-screen squeeze in The Holiday, Cameron Diaz, were actually more than friends. Just a year in the life of Jude Law.

There was a lot of mystery surrounding Jude Law's love life when 2008 rolled around. The rumor mill was working overtime, but there was no solid proof that Law was romantically involved with anybody. That was until somebody decided to take a few snaps of him in Essex nightclub 195 one May evening. 195 is known for attracting a host of reality stars and C-list celebs, which is why one onlooker was so shocked to see Law in there. "We were given wristbands for the VIP lounge," they told a local news outlet (via the Daily Mail). "We couldn't believe it when we saw Kimberly Stewart snogging the face off Jude Law. They were really going at it and barely came up for air."

As soon as they got a chance to intervene, the stunned revelers approached Stewart and Law, utterly starstruck by the latter. "He's the first big name we have ever seen in there, so myself and my friends walked over and asked if we could have our photo taken with them," the eyewitness said. "But they said no, turned back to face each other again then carried on kissing." Law's personal security reportedly apprehended the shunned fans and deleted the pictures they had taken, but luckily for us (though not so much for Law — Kimberly's crooner dad Rod Stewart is famously protective), the "snogging" images were saved to a memory disc.

Flame-haired English model Lily Cole was spotted leaving Jude Law's flat in mid-2008, but by the end of the year he'd have a model from the other side of the Atlantic pregnant. News that Samantha Burke was going to be giving birth to Law's fourth child came out of nowhere, and the American wasn't named when Law's spokeswoman released a barbed statement that warned people against prying into his personal business. "This is an entirely private matter and no other statements will be made," she said (via BBC). The actor reportedly demanded a paternity test before any agreements were reached, which angered Burke's family, who called on him to behave like an "English gentleman" should (per the Daily Mail).

Sophia Law was reportedly conceived in December 2008 after her mother and father met at a nightclub in New York, where Jude was filming future box office smash Sherlock Holmes. She was born in September 2009, and her mother sold her baby pics to Hello! magazine the following month (via PopSugar). "It would be great if we can have a friendship and be cordial," Burke said of Law. "I want everything to be positive around Sophia, I don't want any negativity." The model issued a plea to "work things out" and her famous baby daddy heard it — eventually. According to PopSugar sources, it wasn't until 2010 that Law first met Sophia, who was already five months old by that point. 

There was a flurry of activity between Jude Law's first and second love child. The actor was once again trying to repair things with Sienna Miller when he discovered Samantha Burke was pregnant, which obviously didn't help his chances. He was reportedly seeing actor Ruth Wilson for a spell, and he was also said to have been rather taken with model Alicia Rountree. Law was a man about town again, but he apparently hadn't learned his lesson. Not long after he first crossed paths with singer Catherine Harding (a.k.a. Cat Cavelli) on a night out in London, Law had a fifth child on the way. "We met at a bar in Soho and hit it off," Harding told the Mirror. "I didn't plan to have a baby. It just happened."

Law's daughter Ada arrived in 2015, though it wasn't an easy birth for her mother. "It was a C-section, it was really horrible," said Harding, who revealed that Law wasn't present for the birth. "But he came straight after and was really amazing." She described Law as "funny and sweet" before adding, "I remember last week he came over and he had to change her on the park bench. He cleaned her all up." Harding went on to reveal that they dated for around seven months before they decided to move forward as friends. Little Ada got a new half-brother in 2020: her mom gave birth to another love child, this one by Chelsea soccer ace Jorginho.

Jude Law was introduced to behavioural psychologist Phillipa Coan by a mutual friend in early 2015, and it was the start of something special. When Law sat down for an interview with The Telegraph in January 2020, they were still going strong. "We have an incredibly stable and healthy, wonderful family existence and that involves my kids who are young adults... and then the younger ones are just so much joy and so much fun," the Fantastic Beasts star said. When asked if he planned on adding any more kids to his already sizeable pack, the actor said that he would "absolutely" be up for it. "Why not? I'm very lucky to be involved with someone I'm madly in love with. The idea of having more children would be just wonderful."

It appears as though the famously private Law knew something and wasn't letting on. Just a few months later, the Daily Mail revealed that Coan was pregnant, and Law offered up an update during a September 2020 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. When the titular host asked Law what he'd been up to during coronavirus lockdown, he revealed that he'd been doing a spot of gardening. "Oh, and on top of that I had a baby," he added. "So there you go." Law called it "really wonderful" news and said that he and his wife felt "blessed" that they could "just nest" as a family.