Orianne, Phil Collins’ ex-wife, opens up concerning the lawsuit in opposition to a pop star

After falling in love, divorcing and getting back together with Phil Collins – only to leave him for another man – Orianne Collins is once again at odds with her famous ex.

“I was very disappointed,” she told The Post of his recent decision to leave the Little Dreams Foundation, the children’s arts, music and sports charity they founded together 22 years ago.

“I think his people are telling him not to do it, so he doesn’t do it, which is a shame because we’ve helped so many people over the years,” said the 47-year-old.

Phil’s attorney, Jeffrey Fisher, confirmed the singer ended his relationship with the foundation in October 2020, though their website still promotes his involvement.

She added that her legal battles are over, including his eviction in January 2021 from the Miami Beach home they once shared – until she moved in with her new husband. As The Post previously reported, Orianne broke up with Phil via text message while they were both at home. (She declined to discuss it in this interview.)

“After we’ve been together for 23 years, it’s ridiculous. We are the parents of two children together,” she said. “These are stupid battles. I think it should have stayed private rather than going viral in the press. So many bad things have been said.”

Orianne Collins is fighting with her ex-husband, pop star Phil Collins, over the proceeds of the sale of a $40 million house. He had previously given her $47 million in their divorce settlement.Photos: Mary Beth Koeth; makeup: Hiara Fernandez; Hair: Michael Sharkey

But Orianne is also hurt by things that are being said about her.

“[Phil’s’] Lawyers were terrible. They say I was the girlfriend of the summer of 2020,” she told the Post. “Come on! I’m the mother of two of his kids. I was married to him and we got back together. It’s super rude to say that.”

The two, who share sons Nicholas, 20, and Matthew, 17, first met in 1994 when she was 22 and he was 44. She worked for a capital venture group in Lausanne and Phil was an investor in one of the company’s clients for a concert in the city. Orianne, who was born in Switzerland and has Thai roots, was tasked with picking up the singer at the airport.

Orianne married Phil Collins in 1999, divorced in 2008, reunited in 2016 — and split in 2020 when she married another man while living with Phil.REUTERS

During the 30-minute drive to the hotel, she acted as the tour guide, sharing details about the villages they passed. “When we got to the hotel, he asked me if I could come with him to translate,” Orianne recalls.

There was an ulterior motive. “Phil fell in love with me in the car. For me, it was the next day,” she said. There was a mix-up after the concert and her jacket was left in his car. “Phil called and asked me to meet him at the hotel. I told him not to worry about my jacket and just leave it with the driver.

“But the next day at the office, my phone rang all day. “Can you come and get your jacket? Can you come and pick up your jacket?’ I was like, ‘He’s a very famous pop artist. He must have a girlfriend in every port.”

Orianne said her last marriage to Thomas Bates only lasted a year because it was all about travel arrangements.Photos: Mary Beth Koeth; makeup: Hiara Fernandez; Hair: Michael Sharkey

“And when I came out of my office, my ex-boyfriend was there. He slapped me in the face because he didn’t want me to leave him.”

In the end, Orianne called Phil and said she couldn’t meet him because of the alleged assault.

“And Phil said, ‘I’ll send someone to fix it.’ He called my mother, who was cooking, to get the number of the house I was staying in. She said, “Phil Collins is calling, oh my god.” And she went next to my grandmother’s house to get my girlfriend’s number. When she came back, the kitchen was on fire!”

Phil and Orianne share sons Nicholas (from far left) and Matthew.Alamy

But everything worked out. Afterwards, Orianne said: “We were always together. The beginning was crazy with press and paparazzi. I had to disguise myself to see him. Once I wore my hair in a hat and used a fake mustache. There was even security for me because paparazzi were camping out in front of my house.”

The fact that Phil was still married to his second wife, Jill Tavelman, added to the public drama.

When Phil and Orianne married in 1999, he brought three children from his previous marriages: daughter Joely, now 49, and son Simon, 45, with first wife Andrea Bertorelli; and daughter Lily, now 32, with Tavelman.

She now lives in a $6 million home in Fort Lauderdale.Photos: Mary Beth Koeth; makeup: Hiara Fernandez; Hair: Michael Sharkey

Of course, Lily is now a famous actress, starring in the Netflix series Emily in Paris.

Lily was 10 when Phil married Orianne and spent the summers in Switzerland with her father and stepmother.

“I taught Lily to drive,” Orianne said. “Above our house we had farms with empty streets. It was a stick shift and when she started the car it rang out ‘Pop!’ We laughed so hard. It was nice to have her with us and she has a great relationship with her brothers. I’m no longer with her father, but I’ve always loved this girl like she was my own.”

“I’ve always loved this girl like she was my own,” Orianne said of her former stepdaughter Lily Collins (right), star of Emily in Paris.Stephanie Branchu/Netflix

And, yes, Orianne is a huge Emily fan: “The show is very cute… I loved the clothes in the first season. She wore Chanel and it was amazing. In the second season, the outfits are crazy, completely freaky. I prefer the first season. I think it was very her.”

Phil and Orianne divorced in 2008 and she received a $47 million settlement from him. She had a son, Andrea, now 10, with banker Charles Fouad Mejjati.
In 2016, she and Mejjati broke up and she reunited with Phil.

“When I left Charles, Phil and I decided to move into this new house together. The name of the house was Fil d’Or, after both of our names. In French it means gold thread. It was our family home,” Orianne said. “We chose it together and we lived there together. I designed the furniture; I designed the kitchen.”

Orianne had moved back in with Phil after separating from her second husband.Photos: Mary Beth Koeth; makeup: Hiara Fernandez; Hair: Michael Sharkey

They split again in August 2020 after she started seeing Bates — and quickly marrying. Hearing her tell it, the whole thing was a joke.

said Orianne and Bates had a quickie wedding performed by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas so he could travel to Switzerland with her during the pandemic lockdowns.
“To fly to Switzerland, we had to be related, otherwise he couldn’t have gone,” she said. “But it should be canceled right after that. It really was more than anything else for travel purposes.”

After the new couple returned to the Miami Beach home, Phil, who had gone to England, continued with the eviction proceedings.

The Miami home Phil and Orianne once shared was known as the Fil D’Or, a portmanteau of their names.Broker.com

While the couple moved out — to a waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale — Orianne is now suing Phil for half the sale price of the Miami home, which cost $39.25 million in January 2021. She claims he promised her verbally.

Fisher, Phil’s attorney, denied the allegation but declined to elaborate because it is an issue in the pending litigation between the former couple.

“This is ridiculous and out of control,” Orianne told the Post. “You sold the house, give me half and that’s it.”

She also split from Bates after just 16 months of marriage and is now trying to ensure he doesn’t bring her home by claiming she lives alone.

Orianne and Phil Collins attend the 4th Annual Dreaming on the Beach Gala in 2018.Getty Images

In the divorce filing, Orianne said the emotional toll of COVID-19 and the quarantine caused her to act in ways and do things — like get married — that were out of character.

Rumor has it that Orianne, who has her OC Jewelery line as well as Magic Oil, a body ointment infused with gold and diamond dust, would be one of the new cast members for the reboot of “The Real Housewives of Miami,” which premiered in December .
In fact, she told The Post: “I did a two day casting at my house but I never heard a response. It’s very strange.”

Martial arts still play a big part in her life, although she was injured at an exhibition in Paris in 2014 and left paralyzed from the neck down after a botched operation in Switzerland. When Orianne was told she would never leave again, the news made her contemplate suicide.

Orianne said she considered suicide after becoming paralyzed from the neck down. Luckily it turned out to be temporary.

“In Switzerland you have the right to die,” explains Orianne. “I had all sorts of ideas in my head. ‘How should I go?’ And one day, after almost three weeks, I felt my pinky toe moving on my right side. So I went into a fight… I had to relearn everything: how to shower, how to dress, how to do makeup, how to drive. I was in a wheelchair for over two years. But in 2017 I climbed the Matterhorn, the highest peak in Switzerland.”

The experience led her to found the Never Give Up Foundation, which supports people around the world with their finances, physical rehabilitation and therapy after spinal cord injuries.

Now, as she faces her latest legal battle, Orianne is preparing to climb Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest peak, in 2023. “Always follow your dreams,” she said. “If you think like this, you can achieve so many things in life.”