Charles Hanson and Rebecca Ludlam have been living apart since early 2024. No divorce has been publicly confirmed or reported by any credible UK outlet as of March 2026. But after a three-week criminal trial at Derby Crown Court, a unanimous not guilty verdict, and nearly two years of separation, the marriage is over in every practical sense. Whether the formal paperwork has been finalised remains private.
Here is everything that actually happened, from the beginning.
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Charles Hanson and Rebecca Ludlam
Charles Hanson was born on 29 May 1978 in Holbrook, Derbyshire. His father was an accountant who farmed sheep near Kirk Langley; his mother worked as an occupational therapist. He trained at Christie’s in London, founded Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire in 2005, and by 2002 had already become the youngest expert ever to appear on BBC’s Bargain Hunt, joining the show at 25.
He met Rebecca Ludlam in 2008. She was a trained radiographer and an active member of a Derby-based acting society. They married two years later at All Saints Church in Mackworth, with several of Hanson’s Bargain Hunt colleagues sitting in the pews.
A Family Built Through Grief
The years that followed were marked by loss that would test any couple.
In September 2012, their first child, Thomas William Hanson, known as Tommy, was stillborn. In the same year, Hanson was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had surgery, missed one series of filming, and returned to work. In 2013, he ran the Great North Run and raised ยฃ39,000 for Sands, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society, in Tommy’s memory.
The family moved forward:
- Matilda arrived in April 2014 following IVF treatment
- Frederick was born in 2016, delivered by emergency operation at 32 weeks due to a rare blood antibody condition; he recovered fully
After Frederick’s birth, Hanson told Staffordshire Live: “I feel so optimistic and feel so blessed that we now have a son. After losing Tommy, who was born asleep in September 2012, we were overjoyed to have Matilda.”
The Arrest and the Charges
Police were called to a domestic incident at the family’s home in Quarndon, Derbyshire, in June 2023. Bodycam footage from the arrest captured Hanson appearing disoriented, repeatedly asking officers “Am I dreaming?” and insisting he was a “good guy.” In the days before his arrest, he had sent Rebecca a WhatsApp message promising he would never lay a finger on her again.
He was formally charged on 14 December 2023. At Derby Crown Court on 7 February 2024, he pleaded not guilty to all counts. A court order barred him from returning to the family home. Shortly after, it was reported he would not be appearing on BBC programmes in the “imminent future.”
The three charges he faced:
- Controlling or coercive behaviour spanning May 2015 to June 2023
- Assault occasioning actual bodily harm, relating to an incident in May 2020
- Assault by beating, relating to a separate incident in 2023
What Was Alleged at Derby Crown Court
The trial opened on 10 February 2025 before Judge Martin Hurst, with a jury of seven women and five men. Rebecca Hanson, then 42, gave her testimony from behind a screen in the courtroom.
She told the jury that from 2012, her husband was violent towards her roughly every six months across a ten-year period.
| Year | Allegation Heard in Court |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Placed her in a headlock while five to six months pregnant, leaving her “paralysed with fear” |
| 2015 | Gripped her arm hard enough to leave three fingertip bruises, which she photographed |
| March 2020 | Threw a landline telephone at her leg during the first Covid lockdown |
| May 2021 | Threatened to burn her with embers from a fire |
| 2023 | Pushed her twice during a bedroom argument |
“I was a sparkly, happy, jokey person,” she told the jury, “and then I just got ground down into just being absolutely worthless. I’ve been scared for years.”
Rebecca’s mother, Jacqueline Ludlam, also testified that the couple’s relationship had deteriorated significantly over time, though under cross-examination she confirmed she had not personally witnessed any of the alleged incidents.
Hanson’s Account From the Witness Box
Hanson denied every charge.
He described the 2012 incident as a consoling hug near a piano. He told the jury he had never put his wife in a headlock, and said that on the anniversary of Tommy’s death each year, Rebecca would tell him: “Your fault, that hug killed Tommy.” Regarding the pushing allegations, a letter read to the court explained the incident as “a double tap to get her attention away from TikTok.”
On the state of the marriage, Hanson told the court he felt “almost a slave” to his wife, that she had left him “a beaten and broken man,” and that he had sent repeated WhatsApp messages in a desperate attempt to hold things together.
His barrister, Sasha Wass KC, told the jury in her closing address: “The reality is that Rebecca Hanson has used this court, a criminal court, as an extension of her divorce battle. The entirety of the case rests on the testimony of Rebecca Hanson. There is nothing else.”
The Verdict: Not Guilty on All Counts
On 28 February 2025, after four and a half hours of deliberation, the jury returned unanimous not guilty verdicts on all charges.
Judge Hurst addressed Hanson directly: “You have been found not guilty. That is the end of the case. You will hear no more about it and you are free to go.”
His parents, sitting in the front row of the public gallery, broke down in tears and embraced him. Hanson gave a thumbs-up from the dock.
Outside the courthouse, he told reporters: “I’m delighted that after a year and a half the truth has finally come out. I can finally live my life again. I feel this burden has finally been lifted. I’ve missed my children and quite simply, I can now get back to my life, and I relish that.”
Is Charles Hanson Still Married in 2026?
The factual picture, as it stands this month:
- No divorce has been publicly confirmed. No credible UK outlet has reported a finalised divorce, and his IMDb profile still lists him as married to Rebecca Hanson
- The couple have been living separately since early 2024, after a court order removed him from the family home during the bail period ahead of trial
- Divorce proceedings were referenced in the courtroom itself, with his own defence barrister describing the criminal case as an extension of Rebecca’s “divorce battle”
- No reconciliation has been suggested anywhere in reporting before, during, or after the trial
Legally, the marriage has not been formally dissolved in any confirmed public record. In practice, Charles Hanson and Rebecca Ludlam have not been a couple for over two years. Whatever the current legal status, it is one both parties have chosen to keep away from the press.
Where Charles Hanson Is Now
In May 2025, Hanson returned to Bargain Hunt as part of Series 66, joining fellow expert Christina Trevanion in Staffordshire, where he wielded the gavel at Bishton Hall. It was his first television appearance since 2023. Fans welcomed him back warmly across social media.
He also rejoined BBC colleagues for the 2025 Antiques on Tour theatre shows and publicly expressed his desire to return to Antiques Road Trip, writing that he would “love to be back on the road one day” and calling for a head-to-head episode with fellow auctioneer Paul Laidlaw.
After a criminal trial that put 15 years of his private life under a courtroom spotlight, Hanson has said little about his marriage publicly. His focus, by every account, is his children, his auction house, and getting back on screen. The question of whether he and Rebecca Ludlam are still technically married may remain unanswered for some time. What is clear is that the chapter they shared together has closed.
All information in this article is sourced from ITV News Central, GB News, Hello! Magazine, Yahoo News UK, BBC News, and Derby Crown Court proceedings.
