Warwick Davis' new girlfriend who 'helped him find love again' after wife's death

has opened up about a who has helped him “to laugh and love again” following the tragic death of his wife,

On Monday, April 14, an inquest concluded that Samantha died in March last year as a result of a cardiac arrest following complications of essential surgery.

At the time of Samantha's death, devastated Warwick, 55, spoke of how he'd been left with a "huge hole" in his life following the loss of his "most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career".

It's been a painful year for Warwick and his family, including their children, Annabelle, 28, and Harrison, 22. Now, Warwick has thankfully found some solace

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Back in February, while receiving this year's BAFTA Fellowship, Warwick paid tribute to an individual known only as 'Sponge' in his touching acceptance speech, thanking them for showing him "that life can still have meaning". Warwick said: "Special mention should go to Sponge. You know who you are. Thank you for showing me that life can still have meaning and for helping me to laugh and to love again.”

In the same speech, Warwick admitted that “life has been pretty tough” since the loss of Samantha, remembering: “She was always so supportive of my career, encouraging me to grab every opportunity with both hands. Since then, life has been pretty tough for me. Thanks to the support of our wonderful children, I’ve been able to continue working and engaging in life.”

The following month, star Warwick was quizzed about 'Sponge' during a March appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show. He divulged: "I can reveal, sticking with the Harry Potter theme, Sponge is indeed She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.”

Making reference to the This Country character Kerry Mucklowe, played by , Warwick remarked: "Sponge very much reminds me of Kerry. Some of the things she says and her accent."

Warwick and Samantha first locked eyes on the set of the 1988 fantasy film Willow when he was just 17 and she 16. The teenage Warwick was by then already a rising star, having found fame as Ewok Wicket in : Return of the Jedi, while Samantha had previously worked on the 1986 cult classic Labyrinth alongside her famous father, They married in the summer of 1991.

Paying tribute to Samantha in April last year, Warwick wrote: "Her passing has left a huge hole in our lives as a family. I miss her hugs." He added: "She was a unique character, always seeing the sunny side of life she had a wicked sense of humour and always laughed at my bad jokes."

Speaking after Samantha's inquest, Senior Coroner for Inner West London, Professor Fiona Wilcox, said: “I am satisfied that the medical cause of death should be arrhythmic cardiac arrest and complications following left thoracotomies.

“In my view, the stress of everything together has precipitated this arrhythmic cardiac arrest in a lady who was not known to have any previous arrhythmia problems.”

She added: “I have found nothing but excellent care being delivered to this lady, and all of her complications were appropriately managed. It is frankly heartbreaking that the surgery itself was successful only for complications to arise and to cause her death.”

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