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Sherlock stars Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington have revealed they have separated after 16 years together.

"I'm not with Amanda any more," , describing the split as "very, very amicable".

Abbington also gave an interview to 's Stella magazine, in which she said she and Freeman had "realised we'd come to the end of our time together".

The couple, who met on a film set in 2000, have two children together.

"Martin and I remain best friends and love each other, and it was entirely amicable," Abbington said.

"There was no hostility, really, we just said that we couldn't live together anymore, so we put everything in place, he moved out to a flat in north London, I stayed at home and we've started a new chapter.

"It is sad and it is upsetting, because you think you're going to be with someone forever, but you either do that or you break up, and we both came to the decision that splitting was best for us. We've been really lucky to make it such a clean break, especially for the kids."

On Friday morning, Abbington tweeted: "Thanks for the beautiful and supportive messages. We are all ok! But thanks."

The couple will shortly be seen reprising their roles as John Watson and his wife Mary in Sherlock's latest series.

In his interview with the FT, Freeman said: "I'll always love Amanda."

The new series sees their characters with a baby daughter, named Rosamund Mary Watson.

Freeman and Abbington appeared with other cast members at an event this week to promote the first episode, to be broadcast on New Year's Day.

Abbington also appeared on Wednesday's edition of Christmas Kitchen, during which she said she would be spending Christmas with her children.

A spokesman for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ said it does not comment on the personal lives of its stars.

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