How could Lord Grantham possibly respond? Heidi Kadlecova, a vegan influencer and campaigner, and Hugh Bonneville, actor of Downton Abbey, have paired up in the most recent unexpected celebrity pairing. This is in spite of Bonneville’s prior declarations that he loved eating meat and that he was the “king of the barbecue.”
In 2023, the 62-year-old actor, who is also well-known for his role as Mr. Brown in the Paddington movies, broke up with Lucinda “Lulu” Williams, his wife of 25 years. Mr. Brown is another conventional man who would probably look askance at any diet that doesn’t entail a jolly good Sunday roast. Felix, the couple’s 22-year-old son, was born when they first met as teenagers.
He started dating Kadlecova, a 53-year-old Canadian philanthropist who is divorced from lawyer Richard Coglon and has a daughter, shortly after their split in 2024. In 2025, she wore a glitzy black and nude gown at the London premiere of the movie Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale with him.
In an interview with Saga Magazine last week, Bonneville was elated about his relationship with Kadlecova, despite the fact that he and Williams have not yet formally divorced. “I am more accepting of the wheel of life and how fortunate I have been to have, on the whole, good health and to do something I love,” Bonneville said, adding that he felt “very blessed to have started a new chapter,” a statement that might not have pleased Williams.
Bonneville is by no means the first man to reach a certain age and abruptly adopt a new outlook on life. This could involve abandoning a long-term marriage in favor of an intriguing romance, becoming an evangelist for Pilates, or sounding as though they’ve swallowed a particularly irritating mindfulness pamphlet. This is the equivalent of purchasing a box of hair dye and a sports automobile in the twenty-first century.
The 54-year-old Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen showed Men’s Fitness magazine his new, gym- and Olympic-honed physique last year. At least he was self-aware enough to joke that he was “hard launching [his] mid-life crisis” and presenting his “new character: middle-aged man who replaced beer with protein shakes.” By the way, Cohen recently got divorced from his wife, Isla Fisher, and is apparently seeing Hannah Palmer, a 27-year-old OnlyFans model.
The once-partying Robert Downey Jr. and Colin Farrell are now ardent yoga practitioners, while other stars Hugh Jackman and Clint Eastwood both turned into unusual proponents of transcendental meditation later in life. Orlando Bloom was rightfully made fun of for a 2021 Sunday Times interview in which he went all out and disclosed a daily schedule that included constructing Legos, sipping green powders laced with “brain octane oil,” and chanting Buddhist prayers—also known as “the methodical nature of creating.”
Bonneville now seems to be a part of this hippie midlife group. Kadlecova, his current girlfriend, has called herself a “world traveller” and a “animal advocate” on Instagram. Her bio on the social media site Threads proclaims that “kindness is more than a philosophy of the mind.” It is a spiritual philosophy. Make compassion a fundamental aspect of your existence.
Are the lovers having awkward conversations at the dinner table, or is Bonneville fully on board with her philosophy? In 2022, Bonneville declared to Waitrose Weekend magazine that “I am king of the barbecue” and expressed excitement about purchasing a cookbook written by “a brilliant guy called DJ BBQ.” In West Sussex, where he had previously resided with Williams, he waxed poetic about indulging in traditional pub fare at The Three Horseshoes in Elsted and The Rising Sun in Milland.
In 2015, Bonneville further demonstrated his culinary prowess by participating in Jamie & Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast, a Channel 4 show hosted by Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty. In addition to Oliver showing them how to cook an overnight shoulder of pork and Doherty building a smoker to cook barbecue brisket, the actor prepared an authentic pad Thai for the two.
Bonneville contributed his London culinary advice in a 2016 article for Brown’s Hotel. Dim sum at Yauatcha in Soho, particularly the “spicy soft-shell crab” and “prawn and bean curd cheung fen,” steak frites at Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte, caviar, and “the Glenarm Estate Rib Steak” at 45 Jermyn Street were among his favorites. He also enjoyed a Bloody Mary and a poached egg at Dean Street Townhouse for brunch. He also chatted to Air Mail in 2025 about his abiding love of roast chicken.
The new woman in his life stands in sharp contrast to this. Kadlecova has made radical claims on social media, like “Vegan is the only way.” She has referred to herself as a “vegan girl” and given her followers advice along the lines of “Live life ethically” and “You need to ask yourself some serious questions on whether you are living a life of kindness… or a life of indifference.” There is some misunderstanding over her dedication to this specific cause, though, as Bonneville acknowledged on the Spooning podcast last year that Kadlecova is actually more of a pescatarian because she does eat fish.
It’s possible that Bonneville needs to hear her lessons about kindness, at least in relation to his own life, rather than the emotions of any food items. In 2011, the actor told the Daily Mail that his wife, Williams, whom he reconnected with in his 30s with the help of his mother Patricia, was “a bedrock for [their son] Felix and me and I’m completely indebted to her.” They were married in 1998.
In 2023, however, a source informed the Daily Mail that Williams had sobbed while telling her pals of their unexpected breakup in the pub. Williams allegedly said that Bonneville had abruptly ended their marriage after sitting her down. “She got incredibly emotional talking about the break-up,” a resident in the pub remarked. “It’s clear Lulu feels as if 20-odd years of marriage counts for nothing,” another source told the Mail.
Compared to their vow renewal on their 20th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas just five years prior, it was undoubtedly a significant change. Williams seemed unfazed by his rising fame and was frequently spotted with Bonneville at movie and television events. “I don’t notice women fawning over him – although I know everybody talks about it,” she said to reporters in 2012. Remember that we have a long history together and that we first met as teenagers. “We are not intimidated by the show-business world,” she continued. We simply enjoy our homes.
It has also been a challenging time for Bonneville. He talked about suffering three tough losses in the last few years in his confessional for Saga Magazine this week: his brother Nigel in 2017; his mother in 2014; and his father, John, who died in 2020. Bonneville told Saga that the event had made him “more fatalistic.”
However, his newfound enlightened perspective appears to have some unexpected repercussions. The actor stated in the interview that he would not be returning for another Paddington movie, referring to it as “a younger man’s job.” He also hinted that any future Downton Abbey project would need to be completed without him, saying, “Our company has left the building.” It was truly a farewell at the Grand Finale.
It appears that Bonneville has reached the somewhat tedious stage of the contemporary celebrity midlife crisis, which is accompanied by arrogant lecturing and moral superiority, when you consider his sudden interest in a vegan influencer.
No Downton, no bear, and perhaps even no steak? Unfortunately, it appears like Bonneville’s next chapter will be much more kale than fun.
