Scoop star Rufus Sewell's, 56, bittersweet engagement to famous fiance Vivian, 27

Publish date: 2024-09-06

The Scoop actor and the Arsenal star got engaged in Rome in December 2023

Rufus Sewell is set to star in the upcoming Netflix film Scoop, which covers Prince Andrew's infamous 2019 interview with Emily Maitlis for the BBC's Newsnight.

While The Holiday actor, 56, has been busy professionally, his personal life is also likely jam-packed with decisions over wedding venues, guest lists and wedding cakes after announcing his engagement to Criminal Minds star Vivian Benitez, 27.

In December 2023, the US actress announced the happy news of their engagement by posting a close-up photo of her left hand, where a dazzling diamond ring had been placed on her ring finger. A second snap showed her holding her hand up to the camera and sporting a wide grin as Rufus planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Till death (or him continuing to walk on bathmats with his outside shoes) do us part," she captioned the post.

This will be Rufus' third marriage after he wed his first wife Yasmin Abdallah in 1999 for nine months. The Style.com fashion director, who previously owned her own store Yasmin Cho in Soho, later revealed she felt like she didn't fit in with Rufus' friends or lifestyle.

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Following their split, she told Elle: "I don’t know if I was accepted to be honest... some weird, shaved-head Aussie-Lebanese girl who wasn’t quite part of the mix. I ended up making some wrong decisions, wrong business decisions, and I ended up losing the store, which was devastating for me.

"Rufus and I were no longer together, and that was quite traumatic. I was broke. It was a time of big loss. But it was also a time of great healing, when I went on - dare I say it - a spiritual journey."

Rufus went on to find love with producer Amy Gardner in 2001, and the couple welcomed a son called William in 2002 before tying the knot in 2004. They split in 2006 following two years of marriage. Rufus is also a father to a daughter with ex-girlfriend Ami Komai.

In a rare comment about his love life, the actor said: "It's always been important to be in a relationship when I'm in one, but I don't actively look for one. I've gone through long times without being with someone, but that's not happened for a while."

He had remained tight-lipped about his romance with Vivian before they announced their engagement, only making a few rare outings together. Rufus reportedly proposed in Rome, shortly after Vivian had revealed her difficult family health woes. In November 2023, she told her Instagram fans her dad "suffered multiple seizures, a stroke, a heart attack, a burst bowel" and doctors found a brain tumor, with the actress fearing "he doesn’t have long."

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Rufus and Vivian, who is 29 years his junior, likely have more time to focus on wedding planning now that Scoop filming has finished, especially since The Diplomat actor previously admitted that he became "obsessed" with researching the interview ahead of his performance.

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"So I just obsessed with watching the interview and watching him. Even on my own, I would just dress up," the actor said at Next on Netflix – an event to showcase upcoming releases.

"I won't tell you how I dress up, but what I mean is I would put on clothes that felt like I could believe the idea of it myself. It seemed preposterous and when people would catch me doing it, it was really embarrassing.

"I would do that and watch the interview, obsess for hours and hours, just trying to kind of get behind it, inside it."

Since they have remained private about their relationship thus far, we can assume their wedding plans will be similarly under wraps.

READ: Rome Flynn’s surprising alternative career after being written out of Chicago Fire

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