Idris Elba: Actor’s ex-wife claims he dumped her in order to grow his career

According to one of his ex-wives, Idris Elba has been forced to sacrifice true love in the pursuit of his flourishing Hollywood career.

The 43-year-old Beast of No Nation star has seen his star power soar in recent years after impressing in several movies such as Pacific Rim, Thor, Prometheus, and for acting as Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.

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It all came at a price, however, as revealed by American lawyer Sonya Hamlin to whom Idris was briefly married to in 2006.

"People were telling him he was going to ruin his career," 44-year-old Sonya told The Mail On Sunday.

 

"He was being told it was an important part of his image to be a single sex symbol in Hollywood and being married would damage that.

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"It was very sad. Idris and I were madly in love, but he was getting a lot of flak for being married.

Everyone was like, Dude, you’re the hottest sex symbol!”

 

The ex-wife now claims Idris' hands were forced into letting her go, as the actor wanted to maintain this ‘sex-appeal’ status to the public – even though she really would loved it if he tried to save their marriage as much as she did.

The revelation comes hot on the heels of news that Idris has split from the mother of his two-year-old son, Naiyana Garth.

 Elba also had a marriage with Hanne Norgaard which began in 1999 and ended in 2003. They had a daughter named Isan, born in 2002.