Spanish actor Antonio Banderas has been making a lot of new changes in his life lately, least of which has been divorcing Melanie Griffith after more than 17-years of marriage. Acording to the latest gossip news updates, the Desperado star insists, however, that just because he met his current girlfriend, Nicole Kimpel, while still with his ex, doesn't mean that they were cheating. To hear Antonio tell it, the fact the he is now dating a woman that he met in Cannes months before splitting with the Crazy in Alabama actress is purely coincidental. Even more interesting, the 54-year-old Hollywood icon also announced that he is moving to London to study fashion at Saint Martins University.
Longtime actor/director Antonia Banderas knows that the timing of his relationship with 34-year-old Dutch investment consultant Nicole Kimpel looks at least a little bit suspect, but has assured his fans that it had nothing to do with his split from ex-wife Melanie Griffith.
In a recent interview with UK's Express, Banderas explained that although he might have met Nicole while he was still a married man, their relationship didn't develop romantically until sometime later:
"Nicole was not the motive of my divorce...I met her at the Cannes Festival last year.
"Nicole told me, 'You've got to solve your problems first then we'll see.'
"So there's no direct connection to my break-up with another woman... It's not like that."
According to Antonio, his split with Melanie was drama free and they are still close friends and colleges, who love and respect each other very much:
"With Melanie all is good, thank god.
"Our marriage has finished in a very natural way, there were no ashtrays thrown to the head.
"I really admire Melanie as an actress, I have always said that...she is a person that I loved, I love and I always will love, whatever our status is."
It seems that Antonio may be going through a full-blown midlife crisis of sorts -- recently announcing on England's talk show Loose Women, that he would soon be moving to the country in order to start down a new career path as a fashion designer (via Huffington Post):
"It's something that has been on my mind for a long time and probably one of the best schools in the world is here, Saint Martins University, and so I am going to start studying with them."
Thankfully this doesn't mean that the fans of his films will be forced to pine for Banderas to one day return to his first love.
The Once Upon a Time in Mexico hero explained that he would be studying fashion in addition to his movie career, not in lieu of it:
"Of course I won't stop my professional life, I'll continue acting, directing, but this is a new thing."
Apparently, he couldn't work out that same arrangement with Griffith and Kimpel.
