Livia Firth opens up about leaving behind her A-list lifestyle, finding happiness on her family’s farm and how her ex-husband Colin made friends with her new man

Livia gets hands-on in the fields of her family’s Umbrian farm, which she and her twin brothers have transformed into a successful business

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, 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.”

Having returned to live 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 diagnosis of breast cancer 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 in a new relationship with Scottish climate activist Callum Grieve, 57, but Livia has also joined her twin brothers Alessandro and Nicola Giuggioli, 44, in running a sustainable farming business, Quintosapore, which recently added Selfridges in London to the list of international retailers that sell its homegrown products, from olive oil to jars of pasta sauce.