Annabel Scholey: Beautiful divorces are possible-Josie Copson-Entertainment – Metro

Annabel Scholey went through her own divorce while playing a divorce lawyer (Picture: Euan Cherry/Getty Images)

Annabel Scholey is keen to show that breakups don’t have to be messy. This a major plot driver in her show The Split, and Annabel is personally invested in communicating the message as she is trying to experience her own beautiful divorce.

After two years away, fans of the hit BBC drama got their way and it’s coming back to our screens with a two-part special in Barcelona later this month.

The Split, which first aired on the BBC in 2018 and ran for three seasons and 18 episodes until 2022, is going on a Spanish adventure. The latest episodes revolve around formidable family lawyer Hannah Defoe (Nicola Walker) and Nathan Stern (Stephen Mergen) as they navigate their new normal as ex-spouses at a family wedding. Annabel is back as Nina Defoe, who is going through her own romantic issues.

During the break from filming, Annabel, 40, has experienced some life changes of her own. After six years of marriage with fellow actor Ciarán McMenamin, 49, they divorced in 2023. The pair are now co-parenting their five-year-old daughter Marnie.

Annabel is aware that just like there are multiple ways to fall in love, there are a myriad of ways for a couple to bring their story to an end. It can be prolonged, messy, sad, or happy if both parties feel ready to part ways. The Split even manages to find the beauty in breakups, which stands out in the upcoming episodes.

‘The Split has always been about the imperfections of humanity and relationships,’ Annabel told Metro.

The gang is back together (Picture: BBC / SISTER)

‘The latest series shows that divorce can be beautiful in its own imperfect way. It doesn’t have a total train wreck. People can still find love for each other.’

When asked if divorce can be beautiful outside of the small screen, Annabel responded: ‘As a divorcee, I know that real life can be more complicated.

‘It’s a bumpy ride, but if you put your child first, which we always try to do, it’s possible. It’s full of drama, but your focus needs to be in the right place.’

The subject matter is clearly something that has resonated with not just Annabel, as the show had an average of over 6 million viewers and 19 million streams for series two, making it the third most-watched drama series on BBC iPlayer in 2020. Naturally this meant that when Annabel got the call asking for her return to the spin-off, it was a ‘no-brainer’.

Ciaran and Annabel were married for six years (Picture: Dan Wooller/Shutterstock)

Despite it being an easy decision, it’s not one Annabel thought she’d make. ‘We did really believe we were done. We sobbed at the end of series three, and here we are,’ she said with a smile.

Viewers will be reunited with the characters they love, including third sister Rose (Fiona Button), and their mother Ruth (Deborah Findlay), but they may notice the ‘different vibe’.

‘It has a Mamma Mia escapist feel. This did make it extra tricky to be Nina again as the comfort zone of her office was gone. People will want to indulge in it over a box of chocolates,’ she teased. This is useful as the episodes will be dropping during Twixmas.

Fans can expect a different vibe in the spin-off (Picture: BBC Handout/PA Wire)

Currently the official line is Abi Morgan’s The Split: Barcelona will be the end of the Defoe family’s story, but Annabel is much more open to things continuing.

‘What’s the point in not doing it?’ she asked matter-of-factly. ‘Our job is entertaining people so if there’s a show that people are genuinely thrilled to watch it then the door should be kept ajar.’ Annabel added that she’s pretty sure that the rest of the core cast would also be up for a return.

She continued: ‘It’s the first time that I’ve actually been on something that has exploded and it’s been a really important part of my career so I’ve got a lot of love for Nina.’

Annabel’s adoration for Nina isn’t just because the character was her big break. The unwavering love also comes down to her complexity. Nina doesn’t always make the wisest decisions, or do what you expect her to. She’s the last person to leave a party, and falls in loves with fraudsters but there’s real heart driving forward the single parent. Playing a multifaceted, and sometimes messy, woman isn’t something that was always on offer.

‘The Split was groundbreaking when we began filming. Female characters were so often two-dimensional. I’m thrilled that now people are writing interesting material for older women and they’re getting better,’ Annabel told us.

While no further episodes of The Split are in the works, recently, it was confirmed that Rivals would be getting a second season. In the Disney Plus show, Annabel plays Beattie Johnson and although her cameo is brief, she sets the tone for the bonkbuster, by having a romantic liaison with Rupert Campbell Black (Alex Hassell) in an aeroplane toilet during the opener.

‘I’ve done a lot of those kinds of scenes so I wasn’t nervous in that aspect, but it was scary doing the very first scene.

‘Alex was a gentleman. He’d been filming for a while, so it wasn’t his first rodeo,’ she added with a laugh.

Annabel set the tone for the series (Picture: Disney Plus)

Later in the episode, Beattie storms out of a garden party after discovering Rupert isn’t just sleeping with her, before returning at a business meeting in an elaborate scheme near the finale.

This perfectly sets Beattie up for a second series return, and Annabel, who is also starring in Channel 4’s psychological thriller The Couple Next Door, is happy to play her once again after loving the ‘tiny bit’.

‘I hope she can spread some horror, and then somebody brings her down a peg or two,’ she remarked.

The Split: Barcelona will air on December 29 and December 30 at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer

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