Dawn French has told of how racist thugs tried to burn down the home she shared with husband Lenny Henry.
The actress, 59, split from comedian Henry, with whom she has an adopted daughter, Billie, seven years ago after 25 years of marriage.
The former Vicar of Dibley star told this week how the family had to deal with yobs leaving excrement on their doorstep and trying to burn down their home with a lighted rag.
Dawn French has told how racist thugs targeted the home she shared with former husband Lennie Henry and their adopted daughter, Billie, pictured in 2005
She told The Sunday Times Magazine: ‘I had to attend to it when people tried to burn our house down and left s*** on the door. But although that was hugely disappointing and shocking, you have to get past it.’
She said she didn’t think of their relationship as ‘trailblazing’, insisting: ‘I fell in love with a man and he happened to be black and we adopted a mixed-race daughter.’
She added: ‘I never thought, “Oh, look at me in a mixed-race relationship!”… I only realised it was an issue when there was hatred from utter t****.’
She said the hatred they encountered only served to strengthen ex-husband Lenny in his determination to succeed.
The couple married in 1984 (left) but split in 2010 (around the time of this picture, right)
She said: ‘It was just us living in our time and doing our jobs and being the people we were. It wasn’t brave, it was just doing the right thing.
‘We were lucky we had a big house and a gate and could employ people to protect us when we needed it. Lots of mixed-race couples weren’t so lucky.’
The actress separated from Sir Lenny Henry in 2010.
The couple struggled to conceive a child despite going through IVF treatment, and adopted their daughter Billie, now 26.
In 2012 she began dating twice-divorced Mark Bignell, who runs a charity helping drug and alcohol abusers. They married in Cornwall in 2013.
The actress is famous for her many TV roles, including The Vicar of Dibley, pictured