Russell begs Danielle: Please take me back

The Gladiator star is ready to do anything to win his wife back.

When Russell Crowe married Danielle Spencer in 2003, he was adamant they would be together forever. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time so I don’t have any second thoughts,” he said. “The thought [of marrying her] crossed my mind the first time I met her.” Nine years on, a devastated Russell is desperately trying to save their union.

“He is begging Danielle for a second chance, even promising her a lump sum payout of $25 million if she agrees to hold off the divorce filing for three months while they try to work out their differences,” a US-based colleague of Russell’s reveals exclusively to Woman’s Day. The 48-year-old actor is leaning heavily on friends and colleagues on the set of Noah, the latest in a series of back-to-back movie roles including Les Miserables, The Man With The Iron Fists, Broken City and Man Of Steel that have kept him away from Danielle and his beloved sons Charlie, 8, and Tennyson, 6, in Sydney.

“It’s hit Russell like a ton of bricks,” a source close to Danielle reveals. “I think he thought Dani would never really leave him or the lifestyle of being a movie-star wife. But Dani couldn’t care less about all that.” The news came as no surprise to the couple’s inner circle. Close friends Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness felt “something was very wrong” in the Crowe marriage when they attended a fundraiser brunch Danielle threw in the couple’s $10 million Rose Bay home recently.

“When they returned home, they [Hugh and Deborra-lee] were worried, sort of astonished that there was no sign of Russell living in that house,” a source close to the Jackmans reveals. “The decor was immaculate but nothing manly. Not even a den with a large screen TV or his rugby gear. No photos of him or anything. Deborra-lee was really concerned. They attended his wedding and thought he’d stick through with this one.” Clearly, Deborra-lee’s instincts were spot on.