Ioan Gruffudd, 50, and his new fiancée Bianca Wallace, 31, 'are looking forward to a lovely future' after 'torrid few years' due to his bitter divorce from ex-wife Alice Evans

Ioan Gruffudd and his new fiancée Bianca Wallace ‘are looking forward to a lovely future’ after getting engaged over the weekend.

The actress, 31, took to Instagram on Saturday as she confirmed her jovial news by sharing a snap where she flashed her glitzy engagement ring for the camera.

Bianca beamed as she shared a kiss with her new fiancée, 50, and proudly showing off her stunning emerald ring.

The couple, who have been dating since 2021, captured the loving moment outdoors with Bianca writing in a caption: ‘The most precious thing happened…’

News of the engagement comes three years after Ioan’s ex Alice Evans first announced that the actor had left her after 20 years of marriage in a bitter divorce.

Ioan Gruffudd and his new fiancée Bianca Wallace ‘are looking forward to a lovely future’ after getting engaged over the weekend

The actress, 31, took to Instagram on Saturday as she confirmed her jovial news by sharing a snap where she flashed her glitzy engagement ring for the camera

A friend of the pair has now told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Ioan and Bianca have had the most torrid couple of years but their love has remained strong.

‘Now they are looking to a lovely future together.’

He went public with his relationship with Bianca in October 2021, and Ioan and Alice were declared legally divorced in July 2023.

Bianca’s engagement news comes just weeks after she hit back at speculation that she was pregnant, after catching the eye with a white illusion dress.

Last month, Bianca took to Instagram to share a beaming selfie in a pretty white sundress, gushing in the caption she was ‘just a happy gal living life’.

However, she later shared a comment replying to another user as she said she’d been ‘smashed’ with messages asking if she was expecting.

She noted that her pinstriped white dress was ‘giving her tummy that illusion,’ and clarified that she was not pregnant.

Elsewhere in December, The Daily Mail reported that Alice, who shares daughters Ella, 14, and Elsie, 10 with her ex, is in dire financial straits – and has told friends that she cannot pay her rent or afford food, and is contemplating taking a job in Starbucks.

She has told pals that the money which she got from the sale of the marital home, believed to amount to $100,000 is all gone, much of it on lawyers, and she is now in a financial crisis.

News of the engagement comes three years after Ioan’s ex Alice Evans first announced that the actor had left her after 20 years of marriage in a bitter divorce

The couple, who have been dating since 2021, captured the loving moment outdoors with Bianca writing in a caption: ‘The most precious thing happened…’

A friend of the pair has now told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Ioan and Bianca have had the most torrid couple of years but their love has remained strong’ (Alice and Ioan seen together)

A friend said: ‘Alice has been extremely upset and says that she can’t afford to make rent when it is due later this month – at least not if they want to eat – and has just hit a financial rock bottom. She says she has nothing – not even medical insurance.’

They continued: ‘She’s been told that she should get a job but has not found any acting work and in any case she needs to look after their children who are school age.

‘This week she has been discussing trying for a job in Starbucks but she thinks they might not want her as she is probably too old for them at 55. Also her agent doesn’t want her to do it in case it looks bad.’

The friend added: ‘She is feeling desperate and is out of ideas about how she can get along. She has been crying herself to sleep.

Alice and Ioan finally divorced in July 2023 but custody, spousal and child support have yet to be settled, and the next hearing in the case is due in March.

It comes amid news that the Fantastic Four star will reunite with his  daughters at least once a week after claiming his ex-wife had kept the girls away from him for almost a year.

In new court filings obtained by DailyMail.com, a judge ordered Alice to take the girls to weekly ‘reunification therapy’ sessions with their father. 

And Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Josh Stinn also decreed that the warring former couple could not trash or insult each other in front of their children during therapy sessions.

According to court papers, the two girls now use the last name Griffith, the Anglicized version of their Welsh father’s last name.

Ioan, who met Alice when they co-starred in the 2000 Disney movie, 102 Dalmatians, filed for divorce in March 2021, shortly after the blonde actress claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years was walking out on her and their two daughters.

Alice announced on Twitter in January 2021: ‘Sad news. My beloved husband/soul mate of 20 years, Ioan Gruffudd, has announced he is to leave his family, starting next week.

‘Me and our young daughters are very confused and sad. We haven’t been given a reason except that he “no longer loves me”. I’m so sorry.’

Bianca’s engagement news comes just weeks after she hit back at speculation that she was pregnant, after catching the eye with a white illusion dress

He went public with his relationship with Bianca in October 2021, and Ioan and Alice were declared legally divorced in July 2023

Last month The Daily Mail reported that Alice, who shares daughters Ella, 14, and Elsie, 10 with her ex, is in dire financial straits – and has told friends that she cannot pay her rent or afford food, and is contemplating taking a job in Starbucks (pictured in 2018)

Ioan successfully obtained a three-year restraining order against Alice in August 2022 that banned her from mentioning him or his girlfriend on social media (Ioan and Bianca pictured in 2022)

In June 2022, she launched a Go Fund Me page asking for $25,000 to try and pay her bills, saying: ‘I never in a million years thought I would be doing this. However in August 2020, just as the pandemic was really kicking in, my entire world fell apart.

‘Since that date I have been not only struggling as a single mother to my babies, but also trying to cover bills and food and legal fees (ha! don’t even talk to me about legal fees) which dwarf any other expense in my life and have finally drained everything – savings, accounts, pension, the lot.

‘Yesterday all my accounts ran out and I couldn’t buy anything. On the same day, my husband’s lawyer sent me a letter telling me I was due in court on 2 August to argue “my case” in the divorce. I currently have no lawyer and no funds to pay one.

‘If I don’t turn up at court I will be in contempt, and I have no idea what will happen to me or my kids at that point.’

It comes amid news that the Fantastic Four star will reunite with his daughters at least once a week after claiming his ex-wife had kept the girls away from him for almost a year

She and Ioan finally divorced in July 2023 but custody, spousal and child support have yet to be settled and the next hearing in the case is due in March  (pictured with her daughters)