This Was '80s Icon Joan Collins' Most Expensive (& Tumultuous) Divorce

Joan Collins has been happily married to Percy Gibson since 2002, but before that, she was fairly unlucky with love, with four divorces under her belt. However, her split from singer Peter Holm was particularly acrimonious (and it came with a massive price tag for the "Dynasty" star, too). 

Collins' marriage to Peter Holm was her shortest by far, with the actor filing for an annulment in late 1986, roughly a year after they'd wed. Collins asked for the annulment on the basis of irreconcilable differences and fraud, but made it clear she wanted the marriage to end, period, and told the court that even if the marriage couldn't be annulled, she'd like divorce proceedings to start. Among her complaints against her husband were that he'd controlled her movements, misappropriated funds, and even become violent during an argument. Collins also alleged that he'd become violent with one of her children's nannies, who subsequently resigned. Holm denied any wrongdoing, but Collins was nevertheless granted a restraining order. 

Sadly, the drama was just getting started, and Holm soon petitioned for a whopping $80,000 in spousal support. There was also a battle over the house, which Collins had purchased a few months before their estrangement. At one point, Holm began occupying the home and dramatically locked himself in, chains on the gates and all. He was ultimately evicted, but responded by setting up a protest outside the house, complete with placards bearing complaints like, "Is there one law for a soapopera [sic] actress and another for the homeless?" Ultimately, the marriage wasn't annulled, but Collins and Holm divorced in early 1988, with the actor paying her ex $180,000 and letting him keep a car worth $400,000. Our favorite unbothered '80s icon told the Los Angeles Times of the settlement, "It's fine."

Unfortunately for Joan Collins, on top of her massive payout to Peter Holm, the proceedings leading up to it had been exceptionally dramatic. We already said there was a picket involved, but that's not all.

A few days after Holm's protest outside his and Collins' marital home, his rumored mistress was called to the stand, and to say that was like something out of "Dynasty" would be a sore understatement. For starters, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, the mistress claimed in court that Holm had hatched a plan for both of them to marry rich, have their spouses' properties registered jointly, then go public with their relationship a few years later. That would be dramatic enough on its own, but there was more. The woman also collapsed after her testimony and had to be taken out of the court on a stretcher. Oh, what we'd give for Andy, a camera, and a time machine. 

For what it's worth, over time, Collins has learned to laugh at the drama. In fact, in a 2022 interview, Collins even poked fun at all of her ex-husbands. Speaking on "The Graham Norton Show" of the first, she explained that she'd known before the wedding that it was a disaster waiting to happen, but that her father had told her she had to go through with it because the who's-who of Hollywood had already RSVPed yes. As for subsequent marriages, she quipped, "The second and third one, they were fine, okay-ish, but the fourth one..." Thankfully, despite telling UPI that her takeaway from the experience was to never again walk down the aisle, Collins eventually did find her true prince charming in Percy Gibson. She certainly fought long and hard for her happily ever after!