Ioan Gruffudd reportedly considered enrolling his teenage daughter, Ella, in a ‘therapeutic boarding school’ following a heated confrontation involving his girlfriend, Bianca Wallace, during a custody visit.

Initially, Gruffudd sought custody of both his daughters. However, after a tumultuous encounter in 2023 with Ella, who was 13 at the time, he changed course. Ella allegedly referred to Wallace with a derogatory term and vandalized his kitchen by writing an obscenity in mustard and spilling milk on his bedding.

Following this episode, Gruffudd expressed that he only wished to have custody of his younger daughter, Elsie, who was nine years old then.

Ella, who pursued a restraining order against her father and his girlfriend after her arm was caught in a door incident, told the court she felt deeply distressed.

She claimed her father labeled her as ‘narcissistic,’ ‘abusive,’ and ‘manipulative,’ accusations Gruffudd denied. However, he maintained that Ella was in ‘urgent need of mental health care.’ The court did not approve Ella’s restraining order request.

The claim regarding the boarding school is included in a trial brief filed by Alice Evans, Gruffudd’s former spouse. The trial is slated to commence on February 23rd, spanning nine days.

In the filing, Ms Evans’ lawyer writes: ‘Although Petitioner initially requested 50/50 physical custody of the children, after a domestic violence incident between Ella and Petitioner’s new partner, Bianca Wallace, Petitioner amended his request to seek that Ella be sent to a therapeutic boarding school and requested sole physical custody of Elsie.’

Evans has had 100 per cent custody of the children after a subsequent custody report and Ioan Gruffudd has had no visits with them.

Fantastic Four star Ioan Gruffudd had been seeking custody of both daughters but dropped this after a row in 2023

Gruffudd sought to send his teenage daughter Ella to a ‘therapeutic boarding school’ after an ugly clash with him and his girlfriend Bianca Wallace (pictured)

In their filing, Ioan Gruffudd’s lawyers say: ‘Alice’s intentional and extensive social media campaign to damage Ioan’s earning capacity as an actor and over her jealousy of his wife Bianca Gruffudd have poisoned and alienated the girls’ once-healthy relationship with their father. Ioan is currently unable to safely exercise any visitation with them and consequently he has zero time share for purposes of child support calculation.’

Her trial brief indicates that she will be calling Dr Suzanne Dupee, who produced a custody report at Ioan Gruffudd’s request, as a witness.

Gruffudd is seeking to renew a restraining order or DVRO which was put into place in 2022 after Alice Evans sent hundreds of abusive messages to her husband.

He claims that actress Evans has engaged in ‘persistent and extensive domestic abuse of Ioan’ since then, she says that she has not.

The filing says: ‘Petitioner’s allegation of ongoing apprehension of harassment is simply not reasonable or credible. Alice has a social media following of fans. She has made statements on social media about the fact that she was being evicted from her former apartment for failure to pay rent and that she was stressed about money issues.

‘Alice did not mention Petitioner or Ms. Wallace. The statements are not harassment. They are merely statements made by Alice about her life and current circumstances.’

Her lawyers say that he and Wallace are ‘obsessed’ with ‘chasing the nuisance’ and that she has not breached the order since it was made.

The filing states: ‘Dr. Dupee will testify regarding Alice’s emotional state during the time period that she sent the messages to Petitioner that pre-date the DVRO. Alice was in a fight or flight state when she sent the messages in 2021 and 2022. Alice was mourning the sudden loss of her marriage, and dealing with the stress of a very public divorce and very public announcement of Petitioner’s relationship with Ms. Wallace.

‘She admits that she did not handle the grief and emotional upheaval well and has taken responsibility for her actions. Alice is now in a better place and has had no direct communication with Petitioner in years. Dr. Dupee will also testify regarding Alice’s emotional state during the custody evaluation that took place in 2023-2024, and how Alice has healed from the trauma that caused her to act out in 2021.

Gruffudd pictured with his ex-wife Alice Evans, who has had 100 per cent custody of the children

Gruffudd and Evans, who share daughters Ella, 16, and Elsie, 13, finalized their divorce in 2023 and have since been locked in a bitter dispute over restraining orders, custody and money

The filing says that the request to renew the restraining order has been made as a ‘tactic’ to get him out of paying spousal support to Alice Evans after a marriage which lasted for 13 years. 

It adds: ‘Petitioner has no evidence of the alleged violations of the DVRO. Petitioner and his new wife, Ms. Wallace, have filed many police reports claiming that Alice has created fake social media accounts in an effort to send messages and make social media posts about them undetected.

‘There is no evidence that Alice has done this and she vehemently denies creating any fake accounts.

‘In short, the evidence will show that Petitioner and Ms. Wallace are “chasing the nuisance.”…. . She has had no direct contact with Petitioner or Ms. Wallace for years. It is time to call this water under the bridge and allow the parties to move on with their lives.’

Alice Evans is asking for $4,652 a month in child support, she currently receives $3,000, and for $1,853 a month in spousal support, she currently receives $1,853 a month.

Gruffudd is asking not to pay spousal support due to the alleged domestic violence. He says that he earns $375,000 a year, although lawyers for Evans say that he earned $588,000 a year before the split. He also says that his girlfriend Ms Wallace, an aspiring actress, pays their $5,000 a month rent.

Evans records her income, outside of his support, as $44,000 a year.

The former marital home was sold in 2023 and both sides note that all the money has now been paid out in distributions to them and to pay attorney fees over five years of litigation.

Gruffudd’s legal fees stand at $619,000 with a further $109,000 owed. He is representing himself in the domestic violence matter but has lawyers for the financial side.

Evans pictured with their daughters, Ella, 16, and Elsie, 12. Gruffudd is only only seeking custody of Elsie, while Ella applied for a restraining order against her father and girlfriend

Gruffudd claims that he earns $375,000 a year, although lawyers for Evans say that he earned $588,000 a year before the split

He says that he ‘grossly overpaid’ spousal support between 2021 and 2023 to the tune of $400,000.

He says that Evans should pay his fees because of the alleged domestic violence. Evans notes that she owes her lawyers $64,000.

His filing says Alice’s ‘extensive and relentless five year campaign of domestic abuse’ was ‘vindictively calculated to reduce his ability to support himself and his family.’

It adds: ‘Abuse that is calculated to tarnish his public image and that tends to diminish Ioan’s opportunities to work goes to the very heart of the spousal support issue it is an attack on Ioan’s ability to earn so that he can support himself and his family and to pay his child and spousal support obligations to Alice.’

It adds that Alice Evans has ‘failed to make good faith, reasonable efforts to become self-supporting.’ It says: ‘Alice is capable of working full time and earning good living by utilizing her many talents in variety of jobs.

‘Instead, she has wasted countless hours of her time and effort in the past years pursuing mean-spirited, ill-advised scheme to diminish Ioan’s public image and destroy his ability as an actor to support his family. Further, Alice cannot be heard to use her own alienation of the parties’ teenage children as an excuse for her not making the immediate, reasonable good faith efforts to become gainfully employed in accordance with her abilities and opportunities.’