There was a celebratory air about Ioan Gruffudd’s latest public appearance as the actor unwound in Spain after winning a bitter tug-of-war with ex-wife Alice Evans over the custody of their two daughters.
The Welsh actor was joined by girlfriend Bianca Wallace during a Mediterranean cruise on Tuesday, with their movements documented in a series of Instagram posts.
Sharing a handful of pictures and videos, Wallace, 31, posed in a black ʙικιɴι before trying her hand at paddle boarding as their yacht sailed close to the Spanish coastline.
Captioning the posts, she wrote: ‘A perfect day with even better company! It doesn’t get much better.’
Gruffudd, 49, an infrequent presence on social media, was also seen after joining his actress girlfriend for a selfie, in which he flashes a beaming grin.
The actor had plenty to smile about after a Los Angeles judge granted his request for the appointment of a child psychiatrist to referee his increasingly hostile battles with ex Evans over Ella, 13, and Elsie, nine.
Evans, 55, had vehemently opposed appointing a ‘child custody evaluator,’ saying it wasn’t necessary, claiming that Gruffudd hasn’t seen or called the girls for almost three months and denying his accusations that she’s ‘abusing’ their daughters, causing them ‘serious emotional harm.’
But after a hearing Thursday that neither Gruffudd nor Evans attended, LA Superior Court Judge Josh Freeman Stinn issued a brief order saying, ‘The peтιтioner’s (Gruffudd) request for the appointment of a child custody evaluator is granted.’
The judge’s ruling came after Gruffudd filed a new 34-page written document – found by DailyMail.com – in which he blasted Evans, accusing her of calling daughter Ella a ‘f—ing bitch’ and telling the teen she ‘would be getting a new father soon.’
Evans’ latest statements opposing the evaluator and criticizing her ex, are ‘false or grossly misleading,’ said Gruffudd in his new declaration to the court.
‘Circumstances with our daughters Ella and Elsie, and my relationship with them are not as Alice describes.
‘Alice has stated in her own words in multiple postings on social media that I have been trying to get at least 50/50 custody of Ella and Elsie and that she does not want this and/or is actively working to preventing it.
‘I believe it is imperative that a specific evaluator be appointed at the hearing on August 17 in order to avoid further and potentially significant delays in getting this important process started.’
