Martin Freeman made rare comments about his family life during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show.

The Sherlock actor, 53, and his French actress girlfriend Rachel Benaissa, 30, have been dating for around three years but are rarely seen together in public.

Martin shares two teenage children Joe, 18, and Grace, 16, with his ex-wife Amanda Abbington, 51.

During his chat with host Jonathan, set to air on ITV on Saturday, Martin touched on going to a Sherlock-themed escape room, based on the series in which he plays John Watson.

Martin revealed that he and his family did not escape in good time: ‘It did take us a while. 

‘I went with my other half and my two kids… it wasn’t even a Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes, it was [the BBC one]. I’m aware it did feel a little bit maybe t***ish to go to my own thing… but my kids said it was going to be fun. It is a really good one…’

Martin Freeman made rare comments about his family life during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show (pictured with girlfriend Rachel Benaissa)

The Sherlock actor, 53, shares two teenage children Joe, 18, and Grace, 16, with his ex-wife Amanda Abbington, 51

After Romesh Ranganathan questioned why Martin went to this, Martin laughingly adds: ‘My voice is in it… I hadn’t seen or heard myself enough in that week, so I thought… and I wasn’t stuck, I just wanted to stay in there longer.’

Martin and Rachel come across as a rock solid showbiz couple, despite keeping their relationship so low key that it’s easy for fans to forget they’re together.

The pair have been in a relationship for around five years, following his split from his ex-partner of 16 years, Amanda Abbington, who admits she was a ‘mess’ following their breakup in 2016, which came about after they ‘just couldn’t live with each other anymore’.

While it’s unclear when Martin found love again with Rachel, the couple were first spotted together in 2020 and she appears to have formed a strong bond with his children Joe and Grace.

Martin went public with his romance with the Toulouse-born actress in 2021 but the pair are fiercely private about their relationship and she recently deleted her Instagram account which gave fans a handful of glimpses into the couple’s relationship.

However, Rachel is happy to play the supportive partner and she’s often by Martin’s side on the red carpet to promote his film and TV projects – including their outing on Sunday at the Olivier Awards .

But a video shared to TikTok by Martin’s daughter Grace shows that Rachel is firmly part of the family, dancing along to She’s The Brightest Star from Martin’s festive hit film Nativity with Joe and the family dachshunds.

‘Merry christmas from Mr Maddens,’ she captioned the clip, referring to her father’s character in the hit film.

During his chat with host Jonathan, set to air on ITV on Saturday, Martin touched on going to a Sherlock-themed escape room, based on the series in which he plays John Watson

Martin pictured as John Watson in Sherlock Holmes alongside Benedict Cumberbatch

Read More Martin Freeman, 53, looks loved-up with girlfriend Rachel Benaissa, 30, as the Olivier Awards

Rachel had a small role as an unnamed teaching ᴀssistant in BBC hit Normal People, alongside stars Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones .

The actress has also starred in Lindsay Lohan ’s Netflix film Irish Wish, and Aisling Bea’s sitcom This Way Up, as well as roles in commercials for Heineken, Santander and Dublin Airport.

Her connection to Ireland has most likely arisen from her days training at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, where Colin Farrell, Aidan Turner and Olivia Wilde all honed their craft.

In addition to acting, Rachel also writes screenplays and once came runner-up in Outstanding Screenplay’s TV pilot compeтιтion.

Her writing is said to ‘blend drama with dark humour’ and she’s currently working on the script for a dark comedy-horror TV series called SELF CARE GIRLIE.

They made their first appearance as a couple when they graced the red carpet at the Raindance Film Festival Opening Night gala screening of Best Sellers at The Dorchester.

As for Martin’s ex partner Amanda, she has insisted that they are on good terms and remain friends.

However, sources have suggested that it wasn’t easy for her to see him moving on with a much younger woman , while his career has also gone from strength to strength.

A video shared to TikTok by Martin’s daughter Grace shows that Rachel is firmly part of the family

Rachel was seen dancing along to She’s The Brightest Star from Martin’s festive hit film Nativity with Joe and the family dachshunds

In March 2023, Amanda candidly revealed that she considered suicide after their difficult split left her ‘hating herself’.

In an interview with the Full Disclosure podcast, Amanda told how suicide was a ‘genuine option’ during the dark period of her life, telling how she recently had a similar thought after a row with her daughter.

She explained: ‘It was breaking up with Martin and then realising I needed to sort myself out because I was a bit of a mess. I hated myself.

‘It was funny because the other day, and I’ve never told anyone, not even my therapist, I’d had a row with Grace [her daughter] because she couldn’t find her uniform and was late for school.

‘So in the end I had to drive her to school instead of the bus and I was sitting in the car and I was having a go at her and I was getting nothing back from her because she’s a 15-year-old and she’s going through all this stuff.

‘She’s a girl, I’m a mother — rage, anxiety. And I was sat there as I was driving, in my head, and I haven’t said this since I started therapy six years ago, ‘you could always kill yourself”

‘And that was what my mantra used to be. If you’ve let people down and upset somebody or if you’re not being the best you can or you’re a bad mother, or you’re not stepping up with your acting, you can always kill yourself.’

Amanda went on to say that the idea of taking her life used to be an ‘option’ for her in the past, but that she last had the same thought six years ago – around the time of her separation from Martin.

She continued: ‘That was a genuine option for me, quite a few times in my life. Then I don’t have to be this bad person because I don’t have to be here any more.

‘And I thought about that and I thought, “Oh my God I haven’t thought about that in six years”.’

Amanda previously revealed that she kept her high-profile break up a secret for six months after she and Martin just couldn’t live with each other anymore.

Talking to the The Sunday Times magazine she said: ‘When we broke up nobody knew, we didn’t tell anybody except for a few key people because they had to know, because of the logistics of H๏τels and stuff.

The couple were married for 16 years and they share children Joe, 18, and Grace, 16, together (pictured in 2023) 

Amanda is now in a relationship with former daredevil Jonathan Goodwin, 43. The couple were friends for years before they began dating 

‘It took six months for it to get out and a lot of that was while we were working on Sherlock… We were professional and we were going to get on and make a show and be civil to each other.

‘We still get on really well, we still really both admire each other as actors… he’s a great guy, but we just couldn’t live with each other any more.’

The pair met on the set of the film Men Only in 2000 and went on to play formidable duo John and Mary Watson.

Amanda is now in a relationship with former daredevil Jonathan Goodwin, 43. The couple were friends for years before they began dating.

However they were only together two months before Jonathan became permanently paralysed when he was crushed during a stunt – leaving him in a wheelchair.

The escapologist suffered life-changing injuries after he was crushed between two suspended cars while rehearsing a stunt for America’s Got Talent : Extreme in 2021.

Jonathan then fell to the ground and hit his head. He was airlifted to hospital where he underwent surgery.

The stuntman came away from the accident with fractures to his ribs, legs and shoulders, third-degree burns, internal organ injuries and he also lost his left kidney.

He is now suing America’s Got Talent bosses over the stunt that left him in a wheelchair for life.