Actor Idris Elba has tweeted an announcement that he has become a father for the second time. The Luther star’s girlfriend of one year, Nayiana Garth, gave birth to baby Winston last week.
Elba tweeted his over one million followers: “My Son Winston Elba was born yesterday. Truly Amazing :-),” with a photograph of the newborn gripping on his father’s index finger. The baby’s name honours Elba’s own father, who died last year after a battle with lung cancer.
Elba, who also has an 11-year-old daughter, Isan, from his marriage to Dormowa Sherman, has been at the centre of an internet phenomenon when a man tweeted a poem complaining about his wife’s obsession with the actor’s on-screen persona. Entitled ‘I Am Sorry I’m Not Idris Elba’, it included the lines: “I am just a regular man / With a regular 9-5 / That does regular things / But you let the characters he plays / And the pictures he takes / Interfere with our relationship / I’m building companionship / But he’s your man crush / When it’s me you should be crushing on.” Idris seemed to enjoy the joke – posting an image of himself with the caption: “I am NOT sorry I’m Idris Elba.”
The British actor, a 2012 Golden Globe winner for Luther went public about his relationship with makeup artist Garth last November, though they’d reportedly been dating since March. Rumours that Garth was pregnant emerged around the same time.
Winston’s birth has to be a moving experience for Elba, 41, who in 2010 welcomed a child he thought was his son, only to find out after taking a paternity test that he wasn’t the child’s father.
“The celebration of having a son — from a man’s perspective, it’s massive,” he told GQ in its October issue, commenting on the 2010 events.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “They’ve been together for a few months but it’s really ramped up recently. They get on brilliantly and she’s a real hit with his family and friends.
“Idris is known as a ladies man but he’s really not at all. He’d rather have banter at the bar than spend all night (hitting) on women. Although he doesn’t have to try anyway, women flock to him.”
The Londoner has become a huge star especially in the States thanks to roles in TV series ‘The Wire’ and big-screen movie ‘American Gangster’. He also moonlights as a DJ under the moniker Big Driis. In 2013 he was ranked second on People’s Sexiest Man Alive list.
