Cold Feet's James Nesbitt once axed from six-figure job after huge scandal

James Nesbitt was dropped from a campaign after details of his extramarital affair and alleged use of cocaine hit headlines. Back in 2002, the Cold Feet star had a fling with a legal secretary he met in a bar while filming in Manchester.

The woman sold her story to the media, claiming Nesbitt took her back to his flat and snorted large amounts of cocaine.

She went on to claim that the 59-year-old spent £250 a week on the Class A drug and said he confessed to having an affair with Cold Feet co-star Kimberley Joseph, who played Australian Jo Ellison in the hit ITV show.

The allegations were splashed on the front page of the tabloids, leaving Nesbitt fighting to save his eight-year marriage to Sonia Forbes-Adam. At the time, Nesbitt had been due to appear in a £150,000 campaign promoting shopping in Belfast in the run-up to Christmas.

However, the Northern Irish actor was edited out of the campaign after Belfast city officials feared that his presence in the ads might have a negative impact on viewers.

A spokesman for the Belfast City Visitor and Convention Bureau, said: "Following recent media allegations in respect of Mr Nesbitt, it has been decided to withdraw him from the current campaign for Belfast. Work is already advanced on a revised TV commercial, which should be ready to be screened this weekend."

Nesbitt and his wife, who share two children, remained together until 2013 .

Nesbitt and actress Sarah Parish are set to delve into their family histories in the thrilling new series of DNA Journey With Ancestry. Both Nesbitt and Parish, who have been friends for more than 20 years, recently experienced the loss of their parents, sparking a mutual interest in exploring their family backgrounds.

Nesbitt, who lost his mother in 2011 and his father in 2020, shares a poignant wish: "In a way I wish my mum and dad were here to see me go on the journey, but I suppose they will be with me in a sense. But also they're never that far away, if I look into the album of my memory, they're there pretty bright."

While Parish uncovers a lineage passionate about education, Nesbitt is confronted by his ancestors questionable past upon learning his great grandfather ran an unsanctioned pub in rural Ireland during the 19th century.

Their ancestral quest leads Nesbitt further afield to France, where he treads sombrely on historic soil at Ulster Tower, tracing the service of his kin in the Battle of the Somme.

Uncovering more about his family's military connections, Nesbitt learns of his grandfather's gruelling experience as a prisoner of war. Yet it's the poignant discovery of his father's efforts to chronicle these wartime hardships preserved at Linen Hall Library that leaves him truly astonished.

An emotionally charged Nesbitt admits, "I'm overwhelmed. The eight-year-old boy wondered, 'Was he a hero?' and I'm delighted that that eight-year-old boy is now sitting in front of you finding out that he was indeed a heroic man."