RUSSELL Brand’s wife today told his alleged rape trial they previously broke up over his “promiscuity” as she began her evidence.
Laura Gallacher, who is the sister of sports pundit Kirsty Gallacher, also called the comedian an “amazingly attentive husband”.
She told Southwark Crown Court “I love him very much” and claimed to jurors they always have sex “at my pace”.
Talking of when they began dating in 2007, Laura added: “I was not experienced, I had only had one partner before Russell.
“I felt entirely cared for and looked after by Russell.”
She told jurors Brand “respected my view” if she said she did not want to do something.
Laura said she was 19 when she met Brand, who was 31 at the time.
The mum told the court she and the comedian broke up in summer 2007 when she was “very aware” of Brand’s promiscuity.
She added: “When I met him I was aware that he liked women, and I was aware towards the latter half of that year that he was engaging with other women.
“I wasn’t interested in having a relationship with him if he was sleeping with other people.
“I was invested, we both had told each other we loved each other but it was clear it was difficult for him to be monogamous.”
She said they got back together again as a couple in 2015 and married in 2017.
Brand, 51, is accused of forcing six women into sexual acts and kissing and groping them in an “obsessive” campaign to sleep with 5,000 women.
He took to the stand yesterday to insist he has never forced himself on a woman – telling jurors consent is “non-negotiable” and “more important than sex itself”.
The court also heard how he saved one of the alleged victim’s names in his phone as “T” – denoting the word “tart”.
Asked what he meant by that word during his evidence, he replied: “That was what I used to denote casual hook ups.”
He also put two asterisks next to the woman’s name, which he told the jury meant: “Never, ever forget this individual, this is a memorable encounter.”
Jurors heard Brand allegedly between 1999 and 2009 in a bid to satisfy his “voracious” sexual appetite.
One of the women was allegedly raped in a hotel room in Bournemouth in 1999 after a Labour conference.
The woman said Brand had suddenly “changed” from being “camp, friendly, and effeminate” to “monster-like”.
She told police she remembers feeling “frightened” after Brand forced her to take pictures of him on her camera.
She added: “I took pictures of him on my camera – he made me take them.
“I was frightened. I remember feeling ‘what on earth have I got myself into’ – and then he did rape me.
“He pushed me onto the bed. He did take my trousers off.”
She previously claimed he emerged topless from the toilet and “was prancing around the room, a bit like an ostrich, doing silly walks like Basil Fawlty”.
The woman later added: “I found his body quite snake-like and disgusting. It made me feel sick, if I’m being honest.”
Another alleged victim who claimed she was targeted by Brand while working at MTV in 2001 also gave evidence.
At the time he was the flagship presenter at the video music channel, jurors heard.
The woman said Brand was “pleading” for her to join him in the toilet before he “grabbed me by the arm and started to pull me in, saying ‘come on, come in with me’.”
She described Brand as a “wild-eyed maniac” during the alleged assault and said she was left “bewildered” and “confused”.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC dubbed the comedian a “sexual predator” who was “ruthless, calculated and manipulative”.
She also said women have told he was “childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met”.
The court heard the alleged offences took place when Brand’s “public profile was taking off”.
He allegedly prayed on women in a number of locations – including workplaces, a toilet cubicle in a bar and at his home address.
One woman who Brand allegedly raped at his home told how the comedian made her feel like a “piece of meat”.
The woman had met Brand after seeing his show at the Hammersmith Apollo in London with a friend in 2009.
He allegedly told her his age range was from “16 to death” before she was invited to a backstage bar where they kissed and had a threesome.
The woman claims she went to his home the next day where Brand told her: “Your hair smells funny”.
He then made her take a shower and wash her hair while he watched through a glass shower cubicle, it was said.
Once in the bedroom, the woman said they had consensual sex after he told her: “This is the best decision you’ve ever made, well done”.
She told the court Brand then raped her and looked “absolutely f***ing horrified” – making her think he would apologise.
But the woman added: “But actually what he said was ‘you need to clear up the mess that you’ve made’.”
The woman added: “The thing that I have really struggled with is… that what he said to me after, it really affected me because I did it… exactly what he said.
“‘Clear up the mess you’ve made’, I did it and I don’t know why.”
Another woman who was in her 20s working at a radio station in the mid-2000s when Brand allegedly sexually assaulted her also gave evidence.
She told the court Brand was a “perfect stranger” to her at the time and said his alleged assault was “violent”, “sloppy” and “frenzied”.
The woman also said she had locked eyes” with the other woman and was “pleading with her” to stop what was allegedly happening.
The sixth alleged victim worked for when she met Brand while he was filming a project.
She said she was informed Brand was “unhappy” and the situation would not improve unless she gave him a massage, jurors were told.
The woman claimed he walked up to a chair she was sitting on and placed his head directly into her groin area.
Brand has denied three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault and attempted indecent assault against six women.
The trial continues.
