Melanie Griffith: Why I won't leave Antonio

Their marriage has survived on love, honesty and, above all, tolerance.

There aren’t many women in the world as forgiving as Melanie Griffith. After shocking video emerged last week of her husband Antonio Banderas kissing a mystery blonde in Mexico, many expected the fragile actress to crumble. But according to a source close to the family, she loves him so much she’s turning a blind eye to the 51-year-old’s indiscretion – even though it’s allegedly not the first time he’s been linked with another woman.

“Melanie’s way too invested in Antonio and loves him more than life itself,” the insider tells Woman’s Day. “When someone catches his eye – and it does happen – he always tells her and lets her know she’s ‘the one’ and that he’ll never leave her.” And Antonio’s dalliance in Cancun, which Woman’s Day exclusively reported last week, was no exception to his honesty policy.

“Melanie knows about it,” says the source. “She knew about it almost right after it happened. It doesn’t make her happy… but she tolerates it as long as Antonio comes home to her.” It goes a long way to explaining why Melanie cut such a forlorn figure while out to lunch in LA at the weekend, where the shockingly thin star ordered a prawn salad and soup. Sadly for Melanie, 54, it’s her insecurity stemming from years of substance abuse that’s left her no choice but to forgive her husband of 15 years. “She’s very addicted to Antonio. She seriously can’t live without him,” says the source.

So smitten is the Working Girl star with her husband that it’s not even a case of an eye for an eye. “She does her thing and he does his, but she’s not interested in any other men,” her friend confides. For all his faults, it appears Antonio is still the glue that holds his troubled wife together. Throughout her well-documented battle with alcohol and prescription drug addiction and stints in rehab, he has been by her side – and that will never change.