Hallmark Star Confirms Marital Separation & Family Death in Same Week

Weeks after starring in Hallmark‘s “Unexpected Grace” as a woman coping with a devastating family death and her own divorce, actress Erica Durance has revealed she’s facing similar challenges in her own life. Over the past week, Durance has confirmed the end of her marriage and the death of her beloved grandma.

On April 19, 2023, a representative for Durance confirmed to TMZ that she and her husband of 18 years, actor David Palffy, have separated. Two days later, Durance, who first rose to fame playing Lois Lane on “Smallville,” revealed in her Instagram Stories that she was gathered with family to mourn the loss of her grandmother, who died the previous weekend at age 101.

While promoting “Unexpected Grace,” which premiered on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on March 12, Durance shared in multiple interviews that filming the movie helped her process her own grief, though she wasn’t specific at the time about what she was dealing with. Now that her challenges have become public knowledge, her words are particularly poignant. Here’s what you need to know:

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Erica Durance Spoke About Learning to ‘Love Each Other in a Different Way’ While Navigating Separation

Durance was photographed on April 14 at the Canadian Screen Awards without her wedding ring, sparking media inquiries into her relationship status with Palffy, whom she married in 2005, per Extra. Nominated in the Best Performer in a TV Movie category for her role in Hallmark’s “Color My World With Love,” Durance brought her sister Jenny Judge as her date to the ceremony in Toronto.

In an Instagram post thanking Judge for attending the event with her, Durance wrote, “Thanks for being there for everything. From nighttime stories to keep the monsters at bay ( when we were little) ….. aaaannnd more nighttime stories to keep the bigger, scarier monsters at bay (at this age🤣) You are my person. My sister soulmate and I love you infinity. ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️”

Amid swirling questions about her marital status, a rep for Durance told TMZ on April 19, “David and Erica have decided to amicably separate.” The couple has not yet filed for divorce but later issued their own statement, the outlet reported.

“Out of respect for our children that’s all that will be conveyed at this time,” the statement read. “Thank you in advance for your understanding as we navigate the next chapter in our lives.”

Durance and Palffy, who started dating in 2001, have raised three sons together — eight-year-old Lochlan, six-year-old Liam, and Palffy’s older son from a previous relationship, who is also named David.

While promoting “Unexpected Grace,” Durance told Monsters & Critics that she found solace in portraying a woman finding beauty in her midst as she came to terms with grief and hardship.

“I’m going through quite a big change in my own life, and I’m managing my own level of grief,” Durance said. “This movie came along, and I could identify with it.”

Durance also told the outlet that she treasured the way the movie features a couple going through an amicable rather than acrimonious divorce.

“It was important to me … that I represent a relationship changing and growing and becoming something else, transitioning,” she told Monsters & Critics. “That it doesn’t have to say, ‘Hey, because we’ve transitioned and our relationship is different, we’re going to hate each other.’ That was a big deal for me when we dealt with that relationship.”

“There is a scene that speaks to that specifically,” she continued, “that we can still learn to love each other in a different way, and we can respect what each other was in our lives in such a way. It does not have to go to hatred and all the toxic stuff. Everybody has their moment, for sure, but we can come together.”

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Erica Durance Lost Her Grandmother Days Before Separation Announcement

In “Unexpected Grace,” Durance plays a woman who lost her teenage daughter two years prior and had split with her husband amid the immense grief of that loss. And while it may not have been as devastating as losing a child, the actress is grieving the death of her grandmother, Nina Borroz, while navigating the end of her own marriage.

On April 21, two days after confirming her separation, Durance shared a photo in her Instagram Stories of herself with her sister and two other family members, and included a message of gratitude for them and her grandma.

“Family sticks together,” she wrote. “Always. Through sorrow. Through joy. Whether we are soaked in rain or bathed in Sunlight. We are blessed to share this journey with each other for however long we have been granted breath. Grandma, thank you for your love of life, for the joy you found in the little things, and for your big beautiful heart.”

Judge, meanwhile, shared an Instagram post with a photo of herself and family members including Durance, gathered around a restaurant table in Vancouver, Washington.

Judge wrote, “With people I love. We are together to remember my Grandma Nina who went to her eternal home this past weekend. 🤍 What I love about this picture is the women in it, and the laughter and togetherness which is what my Grandma loved most: family, togetherness, and laughter. #family @durance.erica 💛”

According to her obituary, Borroz died at age 101 on April 15 — one day after Durance and her sister attended the Canadian Screen Awards and four days before Durance confirmed the news of her marital separation. Their grandmother, who died while in hospice care, was described as “a seamstress, quilter, upholsterer, and creative innovator of whatever was needed” as well as someone who “had a passion for life and always looked for ways to help others.”

In an interview with TV Goodness about the themes of “Unexpected Grace,” including navigating grief, Durance shared what she’s learned from losing loved ones in her own life.

“Grief is a very funny beast of a thing that becomes a constant companion,” she said. “And I just really liked in this story how it spoke to the fact that not only should we not judge ourselves through our process, but to be open to whatever could come our way, and that there’s always something positive and beautiful that can come out of our suffering.”

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