In a jaw-dropping revelation that’s straight out of a Hollywood drama, Married At First Sight alum Lara Eyre has spilled the beans on her whirlwind romance with none other than Charlie Hunnam—the brooding heartthrob from Sons of Anarchy. What started as a fairy-tale connection in the late ’90s quickly spiraled into heartbreak when Lara uncovered a shocking secret: Charlie was already married!
Lara, now 53 and known for her bold appearance on the 2022 season of the hit E4 show, opened up about her passionate fling with the then-up-and-coming actor, who was just 19 when they met. It all began in 1999, thanks to a mutual friend—Coronation Street star Antony Cotton. Lara had been binge-watching the groundbreaking gay drama Queer As Folk, where both Antony and Charlie starred, and she couldn’t hide her crush on the young Newcastle native.
“We just hit it off,” Lara confessed in an exclusive chat with The Sun. “I liked him a lot straight off the bat. He had this way of making you feel really special.” Sparks flew instantly, and their relationship blossomed into something serious. Charlie, on the cusp of stardom, even promised to whisk Lara away to America as he chased his big break in Tinseltown.
But fairy tales don’t always have happy endings. One day, Charlie’s phone mysteriously went dead, and his agent stonewalled Lara, refusing to share his new contact info. Devastated, she resigned herself to the fact that it was over. “I was accepting this is it,” she recalled.
Fast-forward six months, and out of the blue, Charlie called. He wanted to rekindle the flame and even suggested they move in together. Lara, swept up in the romance once more, jumped back in—completely unaware that Charlie had tied the knot with Katharine Towne, daughter of legendary director Robert Towne (Chinatown). The pair had met during auditions for Dawson’s Creek and impulsively eloped in a 2 a.m. Las Vegas ceremony just weeks after meeting.
Things took a bizarre turn when Lara and Charlie worked together on a set. “He was quite rude,” Lara admitted, sensing something was off. Teaming up with Antony, they decided to confront him at his hotel. “We asked reception to call him down,” she said. “When he came down, he was tense—it was weird and bizarre.”
Then, the bombshell dropped: A stunning American woman descended the stairs, looking effortlessly chic. It was Katharine, Charlie’s secret wife. Lara, dressed in a quirky ’90s festival outfit, felt the world crumble. “I remember throwing back my drink and Anthony’s,” she said. “I knew something bad was going to happen.” Overwhelmed, she bolted from the hotel—and the country—booking the first flight to Japan to escape the nightmare.
The heartbreak didn’t end there. Plagued by ads featuring Charlie promoting his breakout film, Lara lamented, “It’s really hard when you have broken up with someone famous, because they are everywhere and you can’t escape them.”
Charlie’s reps have been contacted for comment, but the actor has since moved on. After divorcing Katharine in 2002 following their three-year marriage, he’s been in a long-term relationship with jewelry designer Morgana McNelis since 2005. In a 2020 interview on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM show, Charlie admitted he felt “indifferent” to marriage after his Vegas whirlwind, saying he’d remarry for Morgana’s sake but without much romance attached. He later backtracked, calling it “stupid s**t” that hurt her feelings.
As for Lara? She’s found her happily ever after with childhood sweetheart Steven Swaisland, 54. Despite the pain, she harbors no grudges toward Charlie. “I was very hurt, but at the time he made me feel so good when we were together, like the most important person in the world,” she reflected.
From stolen glances on a TV set to a Vegas elopement bombshell, this tale proves that even in Hollywood, love can be as unpredictable as a plot twist!