Luke Evans confirms split from boyfriend Rafael Olarra: 'It is what it is'

Luke Evans has confirmed that he and his boyfriend Rafael Olarra have split following weeks of press speculation.

Evans made his relationship with Olarra public in February 2020 by sharing a video of themselves holidaying together in Hawaii.

However, speculation mounted in October 2020 that the couple had split after Evans unfollowed Olarra, who works as a luxury art director at an American hotel chain, on Instagram.

Evans also deleted all photos of Olarra from his Instagram account, leading to feverish speculation from fans that the Beauty and the Beast actor was a single man once more.

Evans confirmed the split in an interview with The Times, simply saying: “It is what it is.”

He went on to open up about his dream of becoming a dad, revealing that he has thought about starting a family – and he may yet decide to go it alone.

“I thought about it many times and as I get older I’m thinking maybe I should get on and do it,” Luke Evans said when asked if he would like to have children.

“I don’t want to be an old dad… but I would like to be a dad. There’s a lot of satisfaction to passing on your experiences and rearing a strong, open-minded, kind, respectful human being who can go out in the world and do something good.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Luke Evans opened up about playing a gay man for the first time in the upcoming series Nine Perfect Strangers.

Evans plays a gay divorce lawyer in the show, and he said it was “lovely” to play a queer person after so many years of playing straight characters.

“It was nice to play a gay character after all these years of doing roles on stage and screen,” he said.

Evans also briefly waded into the never-ending debate around whether straight actors should play gay characters. When asked if he thinks there is “equality” in casting, he said: “I don’t know. All I can answer is that from a personal point of view, I’ve played many different roles and I think things are changing on a daily basis.

“There is definitely a very strong, loud dialogue about equality within the industry and getting the right person for the right role – which I think is what it comes down to,” he said.