Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau‘s separation announcement is still fresh but the internet is already speculating about where their trouble began.
The couple, who have been married for 18 years, jointly announced their separation in Instagram posts on August 2 and while their statements didn’t allude to any infidelity, the internet seems to think otherwise and believe Idris Elba may be the root of the split.
“Hi everyone, Sophie and I would like to share the fact that after many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate,” Trudeau said in an Instagram post. “As always, we remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build.” The Canadian Prime Minister, 51, and the former television host, 48, share three children, 15-year-old Xavier, 14-year-old Ella-Grace and 9-year-old Hadrien.
The announcement has caused some Twitter and TikTok users to revive a 2020 theory that Grégoire and Elba had an affair after both attending a charity event in London. And yes, we’re just as confused by this theory as you are.
On March 16, 2020, government officials confirmed that Grégoire was isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. That same day, Elba shared a video on Twitter confirming that he and his wife had tested positive for the virus. He confirmed that he got tested after learning he had been a close contact with another positive case a week earlier which was right around the time he was photographed smiling with Grégoire a group of people at the WE Day charity event. The Luther star told his Twitter followers, “I got tested because I had realized I got exposed to someone who had also tested positive. I found out last Friday that they were tested positive, I quarantined myself and got a test immediately and got results back today.”
And, with that limited information, a theory was formulated that Elba and Grégoire contracted COVID-19 from one another after having an affair and not from standing, maskless in a crowd of people during the early days of what would become the largest pandemic of the century.
Elba, 50, has been married to his wife, Sabrina, since 2019. Grégoire and Trudeau wed in 2005 and, until recently, appeared solid — though Grégoire has taken a notable step back from appearing by her husband’s side during his official engagements.
In 2021, Trudeau praised his wife after narrowly winning an election to secure another term as prime minister. “Sophie: 12 years ago when we decided to be involved together in politics, it’s because we wanted to defend our values, because we wanted to contribute to build a stronger Canada. And since the beginning, we did that together,” he said at the time. “Thank you.”