Rafe Spall makes first comments about his blended family after marital split from Elize du Toit and having a baby with his Trying co-star Esther Smith

Rafe Spall has spoken for the first time about his blended family after leaving the wife of his three children and welcoming a third with his Trying co-star, Esther Smith. 

The actor originally embarked on a new romance with Smith in 2022, months after separating from wife of 12-years Elize du Toit - best known for her former role as Izzy Davies in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. 

The couple welcomed their first child together - Spall's third after fathering two sons and a daughter with his ex-wife - two years later, and the 42-year old actor says raising a child as a middle-aged man has made him more aware of his own mortality. 

'I was 27 when I had my first child,' he told the Telegraph. 'I’ll be 43 in March with a new baby; at the risk of sounding trite, starting again has given me a keen sense of the passing of time. No phase will last forever; nothing is permanent.' 

Launched by Apple + in 2020, Trying features Spall and Smith as a working couple who turn to adoption after struggling to conceive a child of their own, only to be confronted by a deluge of unexpected challenges. 

Its fourth and most recent series series, released in 2024, jumps six years into the future, with the couple now established as experienced adopters having built a nuclear family, enriched by an extraordinary support network.

And away from the show, Spall - the son of legendary British screen star Timothy Spall - fully embraces the inevitable demands that come with raising a child. 

'When you’re up in the small hours pacing the floor as you try to get the baby to sleep, it feels like forever, but those precious moments are where the love is,' he said.

'That’s not to say it isn’t bloody annoying too, but I would truly exchange anything I have for just one day with each of them as a baby.'  

Spall married du Toit in 2010 before moving to The Cotswolds with her in 2019. Together, they share children Lena, 14, Rex, 13, and another ten-year old son.

The actor previously admitted his regret at not spending more time with his children, telling the i newspaper: 'Unfortunately I don't have any other skills to exchange for cash.

'This is all I have and so I have to go off and do my acting in order to keep them in hummus.'

In November 2024, Spall and Smith  were pictured with their new baby for the first time as they enjoyed a family day out in London.

The couple had announced the pregnancy during an appearance on Lorraine some six months earlier, though they withheld a due date. 

Admitting they can't wait to welcome their first child child into the world before filming fifth series of Trying, Smith said: 'We'll have a baby, and then we'll carry on, perhaps, with that ['Trying'].'

Seated alongside his partner, Spall added: 'We're very excited.'

In July 2022, the actor told Filmhounds of his relationship with Smith: 'I get to hang out with Esther all day. We really get on. She's my favourite person I've ever done acting with.'

Spall has since relocated to leafy Hampstead with Smith and their child, whose name and gender have not been disclosed publicly.