Russell Brand’s wife hails ‘kind’ husband but tells court he cheated when dating

Russell Brand’s wife has told his rape trial her husband is “caring” and “kind” and there is honesty at the centre of their marriage.

Laura Brand, the sister of TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher, told Southwark Crown Court on Thursday the comedian slept with other women when they first dated in 2006 and 2007.

She said they rekindled their romance in 2015, married two years later, and they now have three children together.

She told jurors: “Russell, my husband, is caring, he is kind, he is a wonderful father to our children.

“He is an amazingly attentive husband.

“He has got an eye for detail I’ve never known before.

“The way he treats me is to really know me, I feel very seen by him in every way.

“I love him very much.”

The court heard Brand was introduced to his future wife in August 2006 after her sister arranged tickets for one of Brand’s shows.

She told the court the show was “extremely entertaining”, including “very explicit” material, and afterwards she approached Brand in the foyer to thank him for the tickets.

“He obviously acknowledged my friend, who is very beautiful, and said to my friend, have you got a boyfriend?

“She said, ‘yes, I do’, and he looked at me and said, ‘tell me you don’t have a boyfriend’ and I said no.”

Mrs Brand said he accepted her wish not to have full sex on their first date, telling the court: “I didn’t intend to, and I don’t remember him asking.”

She said Brand had been “totally caring”, and let the relationship progress “totally at my pace”.

She said: “I was not experienced, I had only had one partner before Russell.

“I felt entirely cared for and looked after by Russell.”

Mrs Brand said she knew about his reputation before they met – “he liked women” – and she learned while they were dating that he had been having sex with other people.

She said: “I wasn’t interested in having a relationship with him if he was sleeping with other people.

“I was invested, we both had told each other we loved each other, but it was clear it was difficult for him to be monogamous.”

She said they stayed friends as Brand had a brief marriage to singer Katy Perry, and they got back together as a couple in 2015 and married in 2017.

Asked if she was “aware of his promiscuity” during their time apart, she said: “I was very aware of it. I could read about it regularly in the papers, so I was aware of it and he also told me.”

Turning to their relationship now, she said: “We have a very honest, frank, and clear relationship and marriage.

“It is one of the most important parts of our marriage, and our relationship has always been honest.”

During his wife’s evidence, Brand could be seen smiling and laughing at times, and he appeared to be mouthing words towards his wife as she talked about his 2024 baptism.

Mrs Brand’s evidence was also briefly interrupted when defence barrister Ian Winter KC attempted to ask for her view on the “truth of the allegations”.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC interjected, saying “No, no, no”, the judge Mr Justice Bennathan pointed out she is not an expert witness and, after a short break, Mr Winter continued by asking for Mrs Brand’s “view of his character”.

Earlier, statements from two of Brand’s ex-girlfriends were read to the court, as they gave accounts of his character and also said he had cheated on both of them.

Classically trained ballet dancer Elia Alvarez Diaz dated Brand for three years, between 1996 and 1999, when they were studying together at drama school, including a period of 15 months when they lived together.

She said their relationship ended because he cheated on her repeatedly, but she also put forward words to support his character.

She said Brand acquired a “bad boy reputation” and was a “complex character”, she said “at times he was gentle, kind, warm and generous” and added that he was “exciting to be with” and life was “never dull”.

Ms Diaz said Brand had “considerable energy”, but she also said he sometimes “needed to be by himself quietly, in his own mind.

“He was highly persuasive and very skilled with words.

“When I said ‘no’, however, he accepted it.”

She said Brand “loved to be the centre of attention” and “never had any difficulties in attracting attention and interest from women”.

“He was promiscuous and unfaithful, we had many arguments”, she said, adding their relationship “failed because I could no longer trust him to be faithful, or contribute to rent, bills, and other household expenses”.

A second ex-girlfriend, Amanda Alguero Alejos, told the court she met Brand in October 1999 when he was her teacher at the Callan School of English on Oxford Street, central London.

She said she was a few months older than Brand, she told him he was attractive during a social occasion, and they struck up a romance.

“He was very loving, thoughtful and patient with me”, she said, telling the court Brand would write her poetry.

“We laughed a lot together, it was a beautiful relationship”, she said.

“I always felt truly cherished and loved.”

She admitted being “captivated” by Brand, and insisted that they had never had sex without consent.

“He was undoubtedly promiscuous, never in front of me and never when I was around.

“That was not what mattered to me at the time.”

Ms Alejos told the court she later accompanied Brand to events when he was famous, and saw women “circling like birds in front of us”.

At the end of Mrs Brand’s evidence, jurors were sent away by the judge until Friday morning.

Brand faces claims that he raped and sexually assaulted women over the course of 10 years of his showbiz career.

In evidence on Wednesday, he insisted consent is “non-negotiable” and told jurors it is “more important than sex itself”.

He denies three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of attempted indecent assault.

The trial continues.