Isabella Rossellini found "serenity" and "freedom" being single for 25 years

She told the Guardian newspaper: "I think that's just how life panned out. I had children and it was difficult to have a relationship with a man who was not the father.

"And I started thinking, OK, I'll take care of the children and then when they're grown up, I'll be available for a partner."

Isabella - who is mum to daughter Elettra with Wiedemann and adopted son Roberto - went on to admit she found happiness in single life.

She explained: "I found, I have to say, the great serenity of being single. And if I hadn't, I don't think I would have been able to do all that I've done. I have freedom of movement.

"Maybe if I'd found somebody and fallen in love. But I didn't look for a partner just to not be alone, because I wasn't alone. When you're with somebody, you become very vulnerable to the ups and downs of the other person. So I was able to keep an evenness and a concentration that allowed me to study, to get a master's degree in my 50s.

"I could just zero in on what I had wanted to do when I was 14."

Isabella gained a master's degree in animal behaviour in 2019 during a break from acting and she now runs a farm in Long Island, New York to indulge her passion for nature.

She told Vogue magazine: "I do run a 30-acre farm, so in many ways I've managed to fuse all these passions ...

"When I'm there we're doing everything from gardening to cooking lessons to knitting. I manage the bees since everybody's afraid of how small and nasty they are - I'm covered up like an Ebola doctor, so it feels like armoor.

"But it's a lot of work and constant problems. I still have a small apartment in New York that I visit just to take a breather sometimes."