The Untold Truth Of Phil Collins’ Ex-Wife

Who is Phil Collins’ ex-wife, Orianne Cevey?

Orianne Cevey was born in Nyon, Switzerland sometime in 1972 – she has kept the exact date of her birth hidden, but her zodiac sign is said to be Pisces; she holds both Swiss and American nationality. She is a jewelry designer, but perhaps still best known for being the ex-wife of the famous British musician and actor Phil Collins.

Early life and education

Orianne was raised in Switzerland as an only child, by her Swiss father who was a businessman, and her Thai mother who was teaching English at a local high school. Orianne was a very active child, and later as a teenager she played a variety of sports, including soccer and tennis. Winter was her favorite season while growing up in Switzerland, as she used to ski in the Alps as well as snowboard.

She was always more interested in boyish things, and began taking martial arts lessons at the age of nine, and is today the holder of a black belt. Upon matriculation in 1990, Orianne wanted to become a jewelry designer straight away, as that was what interested her the most, however, her father expected her to attend college and study business management, so to fulfil his wishes she attended the University of Switzerland, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in international management in 1994.

Orianne’s career

Orianne launched her career shortly upon enrolling at University, as she began working at a capital company in Switzerland as a marketing and communications manager.

She gathered knowledge at work and the university for four years, and upon graduation started her own company which worked with managing celebrities’ events. After learning translators were required and were well paid, she also became a translator.

Orianne is a TV personality too, as she has appeared in a variety of TV shows mostly about Phil Collins and his life, including “Phil Collins: A Life Less Ordinary”. It was only in 2014 at the age of 42 that Orianne finally did what she dreamt about her entire life – created her jewelry line. She has been into the jewelry business for over six years now, and her name has become recognized among other famous designers.

Love life and marriage with Phil Collins

Phil and Orianne met in 1994 when he needed a translator for his tour around Switzerland, and Orianne applied and was chosen for the job.

Orianne kept him company at press meetings as well as during all his promotional events, and they eventually began dating, however, the relationship wasn’t serious as they both knew Phil was spending most of his time working and travelling, so they kept it somewhat open. However, Phil asked Orianne to marry him in 1997, and the huge ceremony was held in 1999, attended by many famous people and musicians such as Sir Elton John and Eric Clapton. Not everybody supported the marriage, because Orianne is 21 years younger than Phil, who had married twice before, and while her family believed he wasn’t the right man for her, others thought that she was with him mostly because of his money.

Orianne and Phil decided to do charity work together, and launched Little Dreams Foundation in 2000, which has to this day been helping underprivileged children by improving their quality of life.

Orianne announced she was pregnant in January 2001, and in April gave birth to their son Nicholas Grev Austin, followed by their second son Matthew Thomas Clemente on 1 December 2004.

Although it appeared to many the couple was leading a happy life together, they filed for divorce in 2006 citing irreconcilable differences. The process took two years, and they were given joint custody over their children, plus Orianne received £25 million ($28 million) which put their divorce in the center of attention, as it was covered by the media in the US, Switzerland and England, as well as many other countries.

Orianne began seeing Charles Fouad Mejjati, an investment banker, in 2007 and as soon as her and Phil’s divorce was finalized, they married in a private ceremony.

She gave birth to their daughter Andrea Ryan Kylian in March 2011, but they eventually divorced in 2017 following two years of separation. Not long before the divorce was finalized, Orianne began seeing Phil again and they started living together, and although they announced they were thinking about re-marrying, the two eventually decided not to complicate things with another wedding.

Orianne’s health

Orianne underwent surgery in 2014 to fix her neck’s slipped disc, which was eventually replaced with a prosthetic, however, the procedure didn’t go as planned and it left her paralyzed. She went on to sue the hospital but it was then revealed that she was suffering from Brown-Sequard syndrome, and it took her months of rehabilitation to be able to walk again with the use of a stick.

Hobbies and other interests

Orianne was physically active up until the moment the surgery paralyzed her, having several training sessions at the gym each week as she wanted to stay and shape, and because being physically active made her feel good. She is interested in reading books, and prefers the romance genre over all others, while her favorite writer is Nicholas Sparks and her favorite book is his “Dear John”. She is a lover of animals and has had several pets, while she and Phil together donated money to several animal shelters in England. Orianne loves to travel, and has been all around Europe, and to Asia and Africa on multiple occasions.

In her spare time, she likes to watch movies, and her favorite actor and actress are Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, while some of her favorite movies are “Liar Liar”, “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Bruce Almighty”.

Orianne’s net worth

Orianne’s net worth has been estimated at over $20 million as of June 2020, while Phil’s net worth has been estimated at over $100 million. Orianne has long black hair and her eyes are brown, while she is around 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall. Her age is 48.

Who is Phil Collins?

Philip David Charles Collins was born in Chiswick, Middlesex, England, on 30 January 1951 – his zodiac sign is Aquarius and he holds British nationality. He is a singer, songwriter, drummer, writer and actor, who gained recognition after he began playing in the rock band Genesis.

Phil was raised in Chiswick alongside his younger sister Carole and older brother Clive, by their mother Winifred June who was a theatrical agent, who died in 2011, and their father Greville Philip Austin who worked as an insurance agent, and who died in 1972 at the age of 65.

He received his toy drum kit at the age of five, and later had many other real drum sets on which he practiced, while listening to music on TV and the radio. He was motivated by The Beatles, and upon enrolling at Chiswick County School for Boys, he formed his first band The Real Thing, but abandoned it to join The Freehold, for which he wrote the song “Lying Crying Dying”. He was also interested in acting, as he attended Barbara Speake Stage School, and his breakthrough role came when he was just 13, and portrayed Artful Dodger in the British Musical “Oliver!” – he appeared in several more movies, but eventually focused on music rather than on acting.

He joined Genesis in August 1970, and in the following 20 years also worked with a variety of other performers and bands, such as Face Value, Anthony Phillips and Brand X, while he also worked on his solo career and released his fifth solo album “… But Seriously” in 1989 which is by many considered to be his best album – the lead single is “Another Day in Paradise”. In 1996 he left Genesis, as he wanted to focus on his solo career, and was in 1999 invited to write and perform songs for Disney’s animated adventure movie “Tarzan”, and three years later he was rewarded with the Disney Legend Award. He retired from music in 2015, but soon came back to it, apparently unable to live without it.

Before Orianne, he was married to Andrea Bertorelli from 1975 to 1980 – she gave birth to their son Simon in 1976. In 1984, Phil married Jill Tavelman who gave birth to their daughter Lily Collins in 1989, but in 1996 they divorced, with Jill receiving £17 million ($19 million) as divorce settlement.