Charlie Hunnam: 'My marriage lasted for three painful, expensive years'

Charlie Hunnam regrets getting married at the age of 18, because the spontaneous nuptials led to "three terrible, painful, expensive years".

The 37-year-old actor wed Katharine Towne in Las Vegas in 1999 after meeting her at an audition for TV show Dawson's Creek just three weeks earlier. The union lasted until 2002, when the pair divorced, and while Charlie has now been in a happy relationship with Morgana McNelis for the past 12 years, his first attempt at marriage has had a lasting impact on him.

"The first time I was ever in Vegas, I got married, which didn’t turn out that well... I’d known the girl for three weeks and we’d fallen madly in love," he told the Associated Press.

"(The marriage lasted for) three terrible, painful, expensive years. But I got the cats at the end of it, so that was good. It was a small victory."

Charlie now acknowledges that he wasn't mature enough to deal with marriage when he first walked down the aisle. However, he and Katharine were so madly in love at the time, that they attempted to rationalise their decision to tie the knot.

"It was the first (time) I’d ever been in love and I thought, ‘I have to leave to go back to England'," he explained. "We fell in love and we came to Vegas because in our 18-year-old minds, we thought, ‘What if we never see each other again? Let’s get married, and then we’ll have to see each other again, even if it’s just to get divorced'."

Charlie and jewelry designer Morgana have been dating since 2005. Charlie has his fair share of female fans, which sometimes leads to Morgana receiving messages from trolls on social media.

Last year (16), Charlie posted a lengthy message on his Facebook fan page in an attempt to stop the attacks on his long-time love.

"This is a girl I love very much and have spent the last eleven years of my life with and hope to spend the next sixty years. She has been my loyal and supportive partner long before I had any success or money. Why would you attack her out of admiration for me? It makes no sense."