Greg Wise thought he was destined to marry Kate Winslet following a prediction from a "witchy friend"

Greg told The Times newspaper: "It wasn't love at first sight with Emma because she was married. I was told by a wonderful witchy friend of mine that I would meet my future life partner on Sense and Sensibility.

"I looked around and thought, the only one that's available and around my age is Kate Winslet. God love her, she's gorgeous, but there was no great romance there.

"I was concerned about my witch friend getting it wrong. But time has said otherwise - Emma and I are 30 years together."

Emma's marriage to Kenneth ended in 1995 and she went on to marry Greg in 2003.

Greg previously admitted he's happy to let Emma's acting career take priority because she "earns a lot more" and he's happy doing DIY at home.

He told the Observer newspaper: "I spent the year after Sense and Sensibility working as a builder, which I loved ... I'm not really an actor ... I'm going to get slapped by the wife for saying that."

Greg added that he loves "sawing down... trees and planting things and doing all of that ... Life's quite short, so I try to explore as many different things as possible ...

"[Acting has] never been the most important. I'm so ... lucky to have been able to make a living for 30-odd years. I think I'm all right. I'm not God's ... gift."

He added of his wife's successful Hollywood career: "Em comes and goes. She's been doing an awful lot of writing and she's making a thriller in Finland at the moment. She earns a lot more than me, so God bless her. Let her work!"