Stanley Tucci tried to end his relationship with Felicity Blunt several times because he was worried about the 21-year age gap.

Tucci, 62, was first introduced to Felicity, 41, by his 'The Devil Wears Prada' co-star Emily Blunt after she brought her sister along to the film's 2006 premiere and the couple later reconnected in 2010 at Emily's wedding to John Krasinski following the death of Tucci's wife Kate - and he has now admitted he thought he was too old to date Felicity.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Tucci explained: "I was afraid to get into a relationship and I kept trying to break it off. I'm 21 years older than she is and I didn't want to feel old for the rest of my life! But I knew that this was an incredibly special person."

Tucci's first wife Kate died after a battle with breast cancer leaving him to raise their three daughters Isabel and Nicolo, both 23 and Camilla, 21, alone, but he credits Felicity with helping make all their lives better.

He added: "Felicity has been so incredible taking on a widower and three children whose mother died. That’s a huge thing, at a very young age too. If anybody made things better for all of us, it’s her. She’s the one."

The couple married in 2012 and they now have two children together, son Matteo, eight, and daughter Emilia, five.

He also spoke about losing his wife to cancer, admitting he will never truly get over it.

Tucci added: "I didn't work for almost a year. It was hard. It was awful. Still is, in a way. You never really get over it ... [I felt guilty] because I couldn't help her, and I thought I could help her."

He also admitted he wasn't able to be there for her death and worried it would haunt him forever. Tucci explained: "I was afraid it would affect me so greatly that I wouldn’t be able to go on and take care of the kids. That it would overwhelm me, so I had to step away.

"Other people were there with her, my stepdaughter and friends, and that was a good thing. I did what I had to do to help the kids get along. But you still feel guilty about it, you feel sad."

During his appearance on the show, he was asked to pick three songs which have a special meaning and one of the tunes he chose was Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World' which Kate had asked to be played at her memorial service.

He said: "I just loved that she picked this song because that's the way she saw the world. She was always, always upbeat, always saw things in a positive way, no matter what was happening."