Troubled British TV star Caroline Aherne, 37, has split up with her Aussie millionaire boyfriend Brett Whitford. The Royle Family writer and actress met the 33-year-old internet entrepreneur in Sydney after moving Down Under last year in search of new life following problems with alcoholism and a suicide attempt.
Upon Caroline’s return to the UK Brett came with her, but the pressures of his girlfriend’s high profile soon affected their relationship. When the two first met, Brett had taken Caroline for a backpacker and was unaware of the extent of her fame in Britain. “Brett discovered that Caroline was quite a different person back home,” a friend was reported as saying in The Sun. “He just didn’t realise how well known she was and it was hard for him to deal with.”
Although the couple had bought a luxury apartment together in Sydney, they also failed to agree on where they should be based. “Caroline’s work is (in the UK) while Brett could not afford to leave Australia,” explained the friend. “In the end they decided there could not be any future for them. They have parted. It was pretty amicable and they will continue to see and speak to each other as friends.”
Caroline’s love life to date has been something of a chequered affair. She married musician Peter Hook in 1994, but the pair split up just two years later. She then dated TV producer Matt Bowers, and although their relationship had come to an end, was devastated when he succumbed to stomach cancer. In the years that followed the actress was dogged by alcoholism and depression, ending up in hospital in 1998 after combining champagne and anti-depressant tablets.
Caroline returns to British TV on May 16, this time behind the camera, with a new BBC2 comedy entitled Dossa And Joe, about a retired Australian couple.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
