The Ex-Wife: release date, cast, plot, trailer, interviews and everything you need to know

The Ex-Wife is a gripping British thriller that brings to life the bestselling novel by Jess Ryder about an ex-wife who is always hanging around.

Tasha, played by Céline Buckens, appears to have everything, from her loving husband Jack (Sleepy Hollow’s Tom Mison) and their beautiful daughter Emily to their gorgeous home and seemingly perfect life. The only problem is Jack’s ever-present ex-wife Jen, played by Janet Montgomery, calls him constantly and refuses to sever ties with his family. But when it all comes crashing down, Tasha is left with no choice but to turn to Jen, the woman she despises, for help.

The novel has been adapted for the screen by Downton Abbey star Catherine Steadman, who is also a bestselling thriller writer herself, so it’s sure to be edge-of-your-seat stuff.

So here’s everything you need to know about The Ex-Wife...

The Ex-Wife release date

The Ex-Wife is a four-part series that begins on Channel 5 on Sunday, October 15 at 9pm with each episode airing weekly at the same time during the Autumn 2023 season.

This drama was previously released on streaming service Paramount Plus on Wednesday, October 12 2022.

Is there a trailer for The Ex-Wife?

Yes! There are a couple of trailers for The Ex-Wife and it's every bit as twisted as you'd expect it to be. Take a look at both below...

The Ex-Wife plot

The Ex-Wife follows Tasha (Céline Buckens), who appears to lead the perfect life. The only fly in the ointment is her husband Jack’s ex-wife who is an ever-constant presence, speaking to Jack nightly and always turning up to family functions. Then, one day Tasha returns home to find Jack (Tom Mison) and their daughter Emily missing and, at her wit’s end, she has no choice but to ask Jen (Janet Montgomery) for help. But the pair have never seen eye-to-eye, so can Tasha really trust Jack’s ex?

The Ex-Wife cast — Céline Buckens on playing Tasha

Céline Buckens plays Tasha, who is constantly infuriated by her husband’s ex-wife hanging around their lives.

Céline Buckens played Talitha Campbell in last year’s BBC1 drama Showtrial and was Kitty in the hit Netflix period drama Bridgerton. She's also appeared in Warrior, Free Rein and The Good Liar.

Who else is starring in The Ex-Wife?

The Ex-Wife also sees Tom Mison is starring as Jack, Tasha’s charming husband. He’s starred in Sleepy Hollow, Watchmen and the TV series Four Weddings and a Funeral. Jack’s ex-wife Jen is played by Entourage, New Amsterdam and This is Us actress Janet Montgomery. Rizzle Kicks’ singer and Rogue One star Jordan Stephens plays Tasha’s friend Sam.

Jordan Stephens says “I have been so fortunate to have worked with such a talented cast and crew. The Ex-Wife is a compelling thriller full of twists and turns. I can’t wait for the audience to see how this story unfolds. Expect the unexpected.”

* The Ex-Wife cast: who's who in the relationship thriller

Interviews with Céline Buckens and Tom Mison on The Ex-Wife

How would you describe The Ex-Wife?
Céline Buckens says: "There’s this sense of foreboding. It sets up such a picture-perfect love story that it’s almost subversively conventional at the beginning, so you know something is going to upset it. The love story speeds up quite quickly in the first 15 minutes of the first episode that it sets up a castle that is then broken down."
Tom Mison says: "It is so twisty-turny. When I was offered it, I only saw the first three scripts and I couldn’t stop reading them because every 10 pages there’s another twist and another turn. It’s the first time I’ve accepted something without having read the final episode."

What attracted Tasha and Jack to each other?
Céline says: "I think she is seduced not only by him but by his money. She does genuinely love Jack and is incredibly attracted to him but there’s also an element of being seduced by the lifestyle.
Tom says: " Jack meets this girl who has a very cool, free life and he’s stuck with mortgages and business meetings and lawyers and suddenly an entirely different future opens up before him. They start to make each other laugh and that’s incredibly attractive and suddenly the idea of family with a younger woman is incredibly appealing to him."

Céline, would you say that Tasha is a bit innocent at the start?
"I wouldn’t describe her as innocent exactly as Jack’s married and she knows what she is doing to a certain degree. But she does end up being infatuated and in love with him and she really does buy into the whole life which is completely different to the life that she would have led had she not married him.  She is definitely hopeful and optimistic and what starts to unravel is the dream she has bought into of marrying someone who is older and has a lot more money. She then has to come to terms with the ugly, more sinister side of the situation."

Tom, Jack seems almost oblivious to how much his friendship with his ex-wife is affecting his new wife…
"It’s not a problem for him, so it can’t be a problem for her is his attitude. He and Jen were together for a long time and he feels that he can’t suddenly abandon her. That’s when you first see his temper and that he’s capable of digging his heels into the ground."
Céline adds: "Keeping the ex wife in the picture sounds quite bad. But breaking off a relationship in a conflicty way sounds really bad too. I  can understand how a newer wife who’s younger and who’s quite in awe of this other sophisticated woman thinks, ‘Who am I to ban someone from seeing this person they’ve spent x amount of time with?’"

Tom, your character seems so perfect at first but then, as you say, we start to see little flashes of anger…
"Part of the allure of it and part of the challenge for me was that there are moments when we want the audience on side and then there are moments when you want the audience to question whether they are on the right side or not."

Céline, Tasha and Jack live in a dream house but at one point Tasha says she feels trapped there…
"She’s feeling unsettled. She did like the house, she did like that life. But it’s been corrupted and she can’t quite put her finger on why, so when she starts to feel uncomfortable she thinks it must be the house or it must be because she’s not working."

What do you think are the themes of the series?
Céline says: "Jealousy, paranoia, obsession and the power dynamics because of Jack’s money and age difference.
Tom says: "There are all the things that make the best psychological thrillers - the things that get into your head and start playing around with your mind!"