An imposing wooden door overlooks Livia Giuggioli Firth’s family farm in the heart of the Umbrian countryside. It looks rather incongruous against the clear blue sky and rows of crops, but Livia insists that its presence could not be more appropriate. 

"We put it here last year to remind ourselves that one door closes, but another one opens," the businesswoman, activist and former wife of actor Colin Firth tells HELLO! in this exclusive interview. "I have always been a person whose glass is half full."

Back living in her native Italy, Livia, 55, has swapped red carpets and designer clothes for an altogether simpler life following a rollercoaster year during which she has had to deal with a breast cancer diagnosis and the collapse of her fashion business.

But rather than dwell on the past, she is embracing the future surrounded by sunshine, fields of crops and lots of cats. Not only is she happily settled into a new relationship with Scottish climate activist Callum Grieve, but Livia has also joined her younger twin brothers Alessandro and Nicola, 44, in running a sustainable farming business, Quintosapore, which produces home grown products from olive oil to jars of pasta sauce and which recently added Selfridges in London to its list of international retailers. 

It's all a far cry from the life Livia was used to when she was married to Colin and attending A-list events from the Oscars to the Venice Film Festival. Yet the couple, who divorced in 2021 after 24 years of marriage and share two grown-up sons, remain the best of friends. The Bridget Jones star is a regular visitor to the farm and describes his involvement as “one of the most exciting adventures of my life”.

“We're always together,” Livia says of her ex-husband. “Colin and I have a wonderful relationship. We have worked on that a lot, and in keeping the family together. I have a partner; he has a partner and we’re all together all the time.  It’s an extended, crazy family.“Colin and Callum are good friends and they're both huge Arsenal supporters,” she adds. “Arsenal is a big theme in our family.”

Livia says she believes her breast cancer last year was linked to stress following the collapse of her sustainable fashion consultancy Eco-Age, after it was hacked and money was stolen. 

“I'm not surprised that I got it because of what was happening; it was really traumatic, probably one of the most traumatic moments in my life,” says Livia, who needed surgery but not chemotherapy. “We grew this baby for 17 years, and you then realise that someone has stolen all the money. It wasn’t only the breast cancer, but for two months my body was covered in this huge, very itchy rash.“

When we lost Eco-Age, Quintosapore became my therapy, and I started to come here every day. Slowly, I have basically proclaimed myself the chief ball-breaker,” she adds with a laugh. 

Quintosapore – which means “fifth taste” - seems a natural fit for eco warrior Livia and her equally passionate brothers, who farm using biomimicry, a concept which imitates nature’s efficient and sustainable methods of producing food while using cutting edge technology to eliminate the need for chemicals, increase yields and preserve the health of the land. 

Of her old life in London, where she advised big brands on sustainability and launched the Green Carpet Challenge to persuade celebrities to wear ethical fashion on the red carpet, she says: "I don't miss any of it. Sometimes I look at my incredible high heels, gowns and clutches and think, I will never wear them again, and I can't remember who that person was. 

"I’ve had so many lives; I was producing documentaries, then I married this English man who became a famous actor, and we grew a family. Then we happened to be at the Oscars, meeting all these crazy people. It's funny how each moment of your life, at the time, becomes your reality."

For more information about Quintosapore go to quintosapore.it/