Joan Collins has been happily married to Percy Gibson since 2002, but before that she was quite unlucky in love, with four divorces to her name. However, her divorce from singer Peter Holm was particularly bitter (and also came with a huge price tag for the ‘Dynasty’ star).
Collins’ marriage to Peter Holm was by far her shortest, with the actor filing for an annulment in late 1986, about a year after they married. Collins sought an annulment based on irreconcilable differences and fraud, but made it clear that she wanted the marriage to end, period, telling the court that even if the marriage could not be annulled, she would still like to initiate divorce proceedings. Among her complaints against her husband was that he controlled her movements, embezzled money and even became violent during an argument. Collins also claimed he became violent with one of her children’s nannies, who subsequently resigned. Holm denied any wrongdoing, but Collins was nonetheless granted a restraining order.
Unfortunately, the drama was just beginning, and Holm soon filed a petition for a whopping $80,000 in spousal support. There was also a battle over the house, which Collins had purchased a few months before their estrangement. At some point, Holm started occupying the house and dramatically locked himself in, with chains on the gates and all. He was eventually evicted, but responded by staging a protest outside the house, complete with posters with complaints like, “Is there one law for a soap opera actress and another for the homeless?” Ultimately, the marriage was not annulled, but Collins and Holm divorced in early 1988, with the actor paying her ex $180,000 and letting him keep a car worth $400,000. Our favorite undisturbed icon from the 80s told the Los Angeles Times of the settlement: “It’s fine.”
The divorce of Joan Collins and Peter Holm was dramatic
Unfortunately for that Joan CollinsIn addition to her huge payout to Peter Holm, the proceedings leading up to it had been exceptionally dramatic. We already said there was a picket involved, but that’s not all.
A few days after Holm’s protest outside his and Collins’ marital home, his mistress was reportedly called to court. That was like something out of “Dynasty” would be a painful understatement. For starters, as reported by the Los Angeles Timesthe mistress claimed in court that Holm had devised a plan to have both of them marry rich, register their spouses’ properties jointly, and make their relationship public a few years later. That would be dramatic enough in itself, but there was more. The woman also collapsed after her testimony and had to leave the courtroom on a stretcher. Oh, what we’d give for Andy, a camera and a time machine.
For what it’s worth, Collins has learned to laugh at the drama over time. In a 2022 interview said Collins even made fun of all her ex-husbands. Speaking “The Graham Norton Show” of the first, she explained that she had known before the wedding that it was a disaster waiting to happen, but that her father had told her to go through with it because the who’s-who of Hollywood had already responded yes. As for subsequent marriages, she joked, “The second and third were fine, okay, but the fourth one…” Fortunately, despite the telling UPI that her takeaway from the experience was to never walk down the aisle again, Collins ultimately found her true prince charming in Percy Gibson. She certainly fought long and hard for her happily ever after!
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