Inside Russell Brand’s rocky relationship with wife’s family: How golf legend father-in-law Bernard Gallacher ‘begged’ daughter Laura to split with the star – as comic’s sister-in-law Kirsty deletes Instagram post supporting him in wake of sex scandal
- Bernard Gallacher, 87, ‘begged’ daughter Laura to leave Brand when she was 18
- Older sister Kirsty – who introduced the pair – openly backed Brand on Instagram
- Russell Brand news LIVE: Sex allegations against comedian are being probed
Even before recent allegations rose up against Russell Brand, his relationship with his in-laws was rocky.
Golf legend Bernard Gallacher, 87, ‘begged’ his daughter Laura to leave him when they first started dating – when she was a teenager and 13 years his junior.
And while her older sister Kirsty, 47, very publicly backed her brother-in-law when she re-posted the video along with a giant red love heart emoji – she removed it shortly after the full extent of the allegations were revealed.
The maverick actor and stand-up comic was accused this weekend of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse from four women between 2006 to 2013 at the height of his fame.
The allegations have sent shockwaves across the entertainment industry and have forced the BBC and Channel 4 – whom Brand worked for at the time – to launch urgent probes.
And Brand’s wife Laura is yet to break her silence on the allegations and has deleted her Instagram, although friends claim she will stand by him.
Brand’s wife Laura is yet to break her silence on the allegations and has deleted her Instagram , although friends claim she will stand by him
Golf legend Bernard Gallacher, 87, ‘begged’ his daughter Laura to leave him when they first started dating – when she was a teenager and 13 years his junior. Pictured: A family photo, showing Laura (in red) with golf star dad Bernard, brother Jamie, big sister Kirsty and mum Lesley
Older sister Kirsty, 47, (left) very publicly backed her brother-in-law when she re-posted the video along with a giant red love heart emoji – she removed it shortly after the full extent of the allegations were revealed
Golf legend Bernard Gallacher, 87, ‘begged’ his daughter Laura to leave him when they first started dating – when she was a teenager and 13 years his junior
Ms Gallacher, 36, a ‘mummy blogger’ and author of parenting book, The Joy Journal For Magical Everyday Play, is said to be ‘kind natured’ and despite coming from a high profile family, happy to stay out of the limelight.
The pair embarked on the relationship four times before finally making it stick in 2015 but now – expecting their third child and six years into their marriage – friends claim she has finally tamed the hellraising womaniser.
They now live in a £3million thatched house on the banks of the river near plush Henley-on-Thames – a far cry from his old bachelor pad in Shoreditch, a fashionable part of east London.
One friend said: ‘What Russell did was firmly in the past, way before he and Laura met.
‘Of course it isn’t easy but they are determined to get through this.’
Mr Gallacher – who captained the Ryder Cup team to victory over the Americans in 1995 – was not at first enchanted by the match, which started in the winter of 2006 when his daughter was 18.
They first met when Brand was on Radio 2 through her big sister Kirsty and they dated for a short time while she was a teenage art student.
The news of their relationship broke when the couple — their hair styled in matching messy top-knots — were spotted walking along a beach together in Mauritius.
While Kirsty has so far refused to comment allegations against Brand, friends say that Kirsty is a very loyal to her sister and enjoys a good relationship with her brother-in-law
Mr Gallacher – who captained the Ryder Cup team to victory over the Americans in 1995 – was not at first enchanted by the match
The pair started dating in the winter of 2006 when his daughter was 18. Pictured: Gallacher family demonstrate a defibrillator in 2013
By early 2007, however, they had split, apparently at the behest of Bernard, who was concerned about the age gap and his daughter’s relatively tender years.
READ MORE: Russell Brand describes his wife of six years, Laura Gallacher, as a ‘calm, beautiful woman’ and ‘not interested’ in his fame after praising her for being the reason his life changed: ‘She doesn’t care about what I do’
‘He begged her to end it,’ a friend revealed at the time.
Following their split Brand went off to Hollywood where he won a number of movie roles – including a whirlwind marriage with pop superstar Katy Perry.
The relationship fell apart inside 14 months when Brand sent his wife a text asking her for a divorce.
In the wake of the end of his marriage there has been no shortage of other women, an eclectic list ranging from Geri Halliwell to heiress Jemima Goldsmith.
While Kirsty has so far refused to comment allegations against Brand, friends say that Kirsty is a very loyal to her sister and enjoys a good relationship with her brother-in-law.
Along with her older sister and brother Jamie, a property surveyor, Laura was raised in middle-class comfort on the Wentworth estate, a leafy, luxurious enclave where neighbours include Elton John and Sir Cliff Richard.
Laura attended the exclusive St George’s School in Ascot, where contemporaries included Princess Beatrice.
The couple first met when Brand was on Radio 2 through her big sister Kirsty and they dated for a short time while she was a teenage art student
Brand (pictured in 2008) went off to Hollywood following their split where he won a number of movie roles – including a whirlwind marriage with pop superstar Katy Perry
Former spouse Katy Perry and Russell Brand attend the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in LA on March 7, 2010
Described as a popular, bright and loving girl with a talent for catering and design, her father was unimpressed by her choice of man.
One who knows him well told the Mail: ‘Bernard is a very strait-laced guy, with no side to him. So in that sense he and Brand are chalk and cheese.’
But it did not take long for Brand and Laura to rekindle their relationship: a year after they first split, Brand whisked Laura, now 20, to a luxury five-star resort nestled in the Atlas mountains close to Marrakech.
Friends spoke of the then 32-year-old comedian being ready to settle down.
By early 2008 the couple had separated once more, although a year later, in April 2009, Laura was spotted leaving Brand’s East London home several times in the space of a fortnight.
But the Gallacher family were hit with a nasty shock when in August 2013 Bernard suffered a heart attack as he was delivering an after-dinner speech in Aberdeen.
Hotel staff acted swiftly, deploying a defibrillator, but his life hung in the balance for several days while his family kept a vigil at his bedside. Discharged after two weeks, he acknowledged that life had taken on a new meaning.
‘Each day is a bonus. I feel blessed, I suppose, lucky that I’m still around,’ he said.
Brand leaves the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing a comedy set on Saturday as he faced claims about his sexual behaviour at the height of his fame
It did not take long for Brand (pictured in 2006) and Laura to rekindle their relationship: a year after they first split, Brand whisked Laura, now 20, to a luxury five-star resort nestled in the Atlas mountains close to Marrakech
‘My family are the ones that have actually been affected more than me because I was out of it. It’s probably been hardest for them, the people closest to me,’ he added.
It was a sentiment echoed by eldest daughter Kirsty when, less than a year after her father’s heart attack, she split from Paul Sampson, her husband of four years and father to their two young children, after 14 years together — a decision she attributed to her father’s illness.
In the Summer of 2015, Laura and Brand were spotted walking arm in arm in the village of Baltonsborough in Somerset.
By Christmas, Laura was ensconced at the Henley mansion into which Brand moved in the autumn and as the new year dawned, she was pregnant.
At the time Mr Gallacher – talking about his daughter’s pregnancy – told the Mail that he and wife Lesley were ‘very happy’ about the ‘positive’ news.
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