“Matlock” star David Del Rio’s wife is staying by his side amid a sexual assault allegation – and slamming his co-star.
After the news broke on Oct 9. that Del Rio had been fired from the show for alleged assault, his co-star, Leah Lewis, 28, shared a photo of herself and her mother on her Instagram Stories. In the caption, the actress wrote, “Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands. Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care.”
According to Us Weekly, in a since-deleted Instagram story, Del Rio’s wife, actress Katherine Del Rio, posted her own Instagram Story that featured a zoomed-in picture of Lewis’ face. Katherine allegedly wrote in the caption, “This is the most disturbing human being I have ever met,” seemingly referring to Lewis.
Per Deadline, Katherine also posted and deleted a second Instagram story mocking Lewis’ post. In the alleged post, Katherine shared a photo of herself with her own mother, writing, “Mom is here. We’re moving forward in love and strength after what Leah did to our family. Thank you all for the love and support!”
The Post reached out to Katherine Del Rio for comment.
On Thursday, news emerged that David Del Rio, 38, was fired from the CBS Kathy Bates-led legal drama, after a sexual assault allegation.
According to Variety, after the alleged incident was reported, CBS had an internal investigation that resulted in Del Rio being escorted from the set and booted off the show on Oct 2.
Sources told Deadline that the alleged incident occurred on Sept. 26 and involved Del Rio’s co-star, Lewis.
CBS Studios declined The Post’s request for comment, but confirmed that Del Rio departed the series.
The “Matlock” reboot is a gender-flipped remake of the original 1986 to 1995 legal drama series that starred Andy Griffith.
Bates, 77, stars as Madeline “Matty” Matlock. Jason Ritter and Skye P. Marshall co-star.
Bates’ character, Matty, was pretending to be a sweet older woman re-entering the workforce at a fictional law firm, but she had a hidden agenda to get revenge for her daughter’s death.
Lewis plays Sarah Franklin, a first-year associate at the law firm where Matty works. Before his exit from the show, Del Rio played Billy Martínez, another first-year associate.
Bates earned an Emmy nomination for the role (but lost to “Severance” star Britt Lower).
In an interview published before Del Rio’s departure on Aug. 29, “Matlock” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman indicated to EW that he’d have a more prominent role in Season 2.
“I think of this show as a story about friendship romances, those people that come into your life that are maybe even more significant than your romantic partner, and it does come with certain challenges for other people in their lives,” Urman told the oulet.
She added that Bates and Marshall’s characters “have that,” and Del Rio and Lewis’s characters “unexpectedly started to really feel that towards each other, too.”
Sources told The Post that Del Rio’s character will be written out of future episodes – but, he will still appear in episodes that were already completed before the alleged incident was reported.
“Matlock” Season 2 premieres Sunday, Oct. 12 on CBS at 8:30 p.m.
