Just yesterday I was looking at photos from photo agency FameFlynet of “Antonio Banderas and his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel arriving at their hotel in Madrid.” You could only see Nicole from behind so I’m using other photos of her out with Antonio recently. Until then I didn’t realize that Antonio had a steady girlfriend and that made me somewhat sad. I mean, I knew that he and Melanie Griffith had broken up, and that there were rumors for years that he was stepping out on her, but I was still hoping for a reunion.
Apparently Antonio debuted Nicole, who is “a Dutch investment consultant,” around the holidays, which is how I somehow missed the news. She’s in her mid 30s and Antonio told the press “We are in the process of getting to know each other. She is shy and doesn’t have anything to do with my work, which is no bad thing.” I love how he phrases things.
Antonio is promoting his new scifi film, Autómata, which is out in Spain this week. Melanie actually co-stars in the movie, which is about robots gaining consciousness and trying to take over society. You can see the trailer here. Poor Melanie’s mouth can’t move. In an interview on Spanish TV, Antonio had only nice things to say about Melanie:
During a recent appearance on Spanish TV show El Hormiguero while promoting his new sci-fi flick Autómata, which also happens to co-star Griffith, the actor couldn’t help but gush about his former wife.
“It’s been an intense year…Life goes on,” he said, marking the first time that he’s spoken out about Griffith since they announced their split last June.
“I admire and respect Melanie first and foremost as a great actress. I have always said that. That’s why she is in the movie. And she’s also the person that I loved, that I love, and will always love.”
The show’s host then said, “You are lucky to have fallen in love again. So all the best, I hope you are happy and Melanie, too.”
Banderas graciously replied, “Thank you very much.”
You can tell that Antonio was going to say that he “loved” Melanie in the past tense but then decided to correct it and go one further by saying he’d always love her. Melanie went to rehab in 2009 for painkiller addiction following multiple knee surgeries. Antonio, who had been with Melanie for over a decade at that point, told the press that he was proud of her for seeking help, that they went to therapy as a family to work through the hard times (their daughter, Stella, is now 19) and that there were days when he had “fallen in love with her many times over.” So they weathered that storm but split up in 2014 after 19 years together. Whatever the reason, it’s nice to hear Antonio say he’ll always love Melanie. I just wish they could have made it work.
photo credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
Time to go watch Cherry 2000
I saw it for the first time about a month ago and I loved it
He Looks like an old fool to me.
I think he just came to a point where he was more caregiver than partner. I don’t think it’s been very easy for him to support her through all her insecurities.
Right. Plus, I have always had the impression she enjoyed his best years while hers were already gone before they met. There ‘ s some age difference, besides her unhealthy lifestyle accelerated her aging process. And then all the surgeries she went through against his advice…
I am surprised they lasted so long.
@alreadyready
He is 3 years younger than her, definitely not ‘some age difference’.
@Meaghan. Exactly. But she looks like his mother.
An old fool with a young woman. I guess it’s more surprising when the woman is age appropriate. He sure has lost his looks. Melanie, despite the mess she’s made of her face, looks better than him.
I don’t agree.
Well, when one or both spouses can’t keep it in their pants, marriage is bound to fail.
I think I’ve already seen that movie – her face looks crazy in it, and he just looks strange.
Plus the movie sucked, so that didn’t help …
OMG i was watching Working Girl the other night, she looks terrible. There has to be some sort of disorder ,how do this plastic hollywood women truly believe they look better and younger???
Please.
Yes, please. *I’ll always love Melanie, even as I set her aside in favor of a woman half her age.*
Double helping of that!
Does he always love the first wife he dumped for Melanie too?
Seriously. I mean, maybe in the end they were each other’s lobster, but this relationship always bugged me. I’m biased though, because for some reason Melanie has always irked me too. I hope they both find happiness though; life’s too short.
There daughter is 19, now. I’m wondering if Antonio was waiting for his daughter to be old enough and come of age, before he divorced Melanie. With Melanie’s many relapses and all the Antonio cheating rumors, I think this was a long time coming.
God, he used to be sooooooooooooo hot!!!! It doesn’t look like he has had any work done to his face, and I respect that! He looks his age and looks good!
I think you might be right. It sounds like they struggled for years.
Concerning her cosmetic surgeries, I believe Melanie was, “I am going to have these surgeries no matter what anyone says. And if you don’t like it, f*ck off,” and Antonio put up with it and her addiction until he couldn’t take it anymore. Perhaps his cheating also had something to do with that—she was checked out of the relationship, pill-wise and insecurity-wise—he stayed for as long as he could bear it. IDK, I could be way off.
But I agree, while I LOVED her in Working Girl, there is just something about her that bothers me.
I CAN NOT BELIEVE she is 19 years old. I’m only 35 and her being 19 makes me feel old.
I wish these women wouldn’t change their faces drastically. I just miss what I think they would look like. I think Melanie could have looked like a gorgeous older woman. I hope the next generation heeds notice it doesn’t seem to work to lengthen your career.
Meg Ryan couldn’t buy herself a decent job these days. Plastic surgery kills careers. We all loved their original faces, and they think we won’t notice when that face is dramatically changed? Of course we will!
The youngsters today are getting plastic surgery left and right so I doubt that this crop of younger folks will heed your advice.
She always has a cigarette lit!! Either in her hand or this photo actually hanging out of her mouth.. gross!!
“She is the one I will always love…..but I must trade her in for a younger model”
Ordinarily I would probably agree with you. But I think Antonio probably put up with a lot of shit and just couldn’t deal anymore. It happens.
Apparently the girl is not a model and honestly I wouldn’t sleep with the kind of monstruosity Mel is today. Let alone having sex with her. I know it sounds mean but she should have followed his advice not to mess with her face and body.
She seems like a sweet person, but addiction and smoking have aged her incredibly. Other actresses in her age group: Jamie Lee Curtis, Geena Davis, Emma Thompson, Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, René Russo… She’s only three years older than Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton! Yes, they’ve all had work done, but so has Melanie, the difference is still quite striking. I feel for her.
I don’t think Emma Thompson has had work done. Or Tilda Swinton. They both strike me as comfortable in their own skin with no need to alter their faces.
It’s weird to me when the first thing a celeb says about their spouse is “she’s a great actress/musician”. I guess they have to sell their movie and remind us that they’re ARTISTS (snort), but it sounds very cold and fake to me.
My god, I am so with the rest of you about this bad plastic surgery thing. So sad. For real. I would have sued the hell out of whoever did that to me. Antonio was hot to the point of delirium for me. No way did I ever believe he;d be faithful, though. And with her issues…rough. At least they tried.
Why is he saying he respects her first, and foremost as a great actress? They were married for 19 years, and have a child together! Sounds so odd, and even more so if you consider for how long she didn’t have any decent acting job. I like Melanie, but I can’t say why. She comes over as a sweet person. I don’t think she’s a good actress, though. As much as I like Working Girl, and the chemistry between her and Ford, her voice, and the way she talks, has always been somewhat annoying. It’s a bit sad, that they couldn’t make it work, but I also believe, Antonio had a new woman too fast, so he might have known her longer already. He was often in Europe without Melanie over the past years.
Melanie’s face!!
Anyone notice his new girlfriend looks like a younger version of Melanie?
Unless… is that his daughter in the last photo?
Melanie Griffith is not a great actress.
Hollywood is so hard on women and Melanie grew up there. Every year there’s a younger, prettier “it” girl, while you’re the familiar face that everyone knows, but a year older.
That’s why so many women in entertainment succumb to the promise of plastic surgery – if it works its subtle magic, maybe you can still sparkle a little longer. Women feel very powerless,
especially as they age. It’s not as hard for men, who always have character parts.
Even here, look who the comments have come down hardest on…
Melanie. Her looks have been her livelihood. She was trying to preserve them. No one chooses to have bad plastic surgery. Ease up a little 🙂 Didn’t she survive Don Johnson?!
Antonio seems like a nice guy. People grow apart. Melanie definitely had/has some addiction issues but good for her for addressing them. I wish them both happiness.
I like it when he’s frank about it. He’s said something like, “It’s very hard to stay married in this business; there are so many interesting people.” I think you have you really marry someone you like and have shared goals. Not just that, but a shared vision on life. Sounds obvious but shocking how many people get bowed over by lust, which lasts about three years if you’re lucky. It’s worse to stay married when it’s stinking stale. If you haven’t found that soul mate, let loose the energy and go for it like he has, I say.
I do not understand why her mother Tippy Hedrin ( bad spelling) is still stunning and she must have had some work done, could not have guided her a little.
Sadly when someone makes these choices there is no guarantee it will all go perfectly. Melanie unfortunately started doing stuff to her face when fillers will still very experimental and clearly being over/mis-used, she obviously trusted the wrong doctors but I think it’s really harsh of everyone to slam her.
Just like Meg Ryan and a few others, she took a risk and it bit her in the ass. She was reaching a vulnerable age for an actress, many current stars who are a decade younger than she was when she started having stuff done have probably had WAY more actual procedures (Kardashian, Megan Fox, etc.) without the disastrous effect (I don’t think they look good, but I’m just saying).
People were horrible about her appearance and slight age difference ever since she got with Banderas (I know he was married, but so were plenty of other couples who don’t get half the backlash – Brange, for one), I just feel like people gang up on her and she is obviously a fragile woman, it makes me sad. I think Antonio is sweet to speak kindly of her, have no idea if the cheating rumours were true but at least he’s a gentleman in public when discussing his ex wife, unlike Marilyn Manson.