Alex Kingston's dreams of adopting a baby were dashed twice when the birth mothers "took the money and ran"

She told The Times newspaper: "The second marriage was a success up to a point. I think that trying to have more children through in vitro ... and then we went through the adoption process twice and had two spectacular fails."

When asked if the birth mothers changed their minds, Alex replied: "Yes, sort of. Sort of took the money and ran. I think that really took its toll."

Alex was married to Ralph Fiennes between 1993 and 1997 and she went on to wed Haertelin 1998 but the marriage ended in divorce in 2013.

She found love again with Jonathan Stamp, who she wed in 2015, and Alex is convinced she's finally found the right person.

She added of her third husband: "The man that I'm married to now is the right man for me ... I'm a Pisces, he's a Virgo ...

"He's very organised and I'm not particularly organised. We are exactly six months apart. So I feel it's almost like we're yin and yang. And he understands me because he's a writer, he's a classicist.

"He teaches here at Magdalen [College]. I'm an actor and I love stories. I can literally sit and listen to him tell me about Jesus and the ancient world, just loving it."

Alex - who is competing on UK TV talent show Strictly Come Dancing this year - threw herself into theatre after leaving medical drama E.R. in 2004 but she also appeared in sci-fi show Doctor Who in a recurring role as River Song.

In the interview with The Times she admitted she's never coveted the lead role and was happy to see fellow actress Jodie Whittaker get the job.

She said: "I did, actually [think she did a good job]. I thought that the world in which her Doctor existed started to get a bit more serious.

"It started to get quite heavy, the storylines, and I think what I loved about the time that I was on ... was that there was always a lightness."

When asked if she ever considering the lead role for herself, Alex replied: "No. No, no ... No, because I'm River Song. Why would I want to be Doctor Who?"