Piper, who has been largely coy about her 2016 divorce from political activist Fox, made the comments in an interview with British Vogue.

On Friday, Fox responded in an extended post on social media site X.

"The reality is that not all marriages work out and the world isn't perfect," he wrote.

"I do however take great exception to the assertion that co-parenting with me is enormously difficult.

"I have never tried to deny our boys access to their mum and I would never wish her anything other than a stable family.

"My only focus these past years has been to be present in their lives and be a loving dad. I'm not perfect, but I've done my absolute best to put the kids first."

Fox claimed Piper had taken him to court "more than a dozen times" since their split, "forcing us to hand over more money which really should be going towards the children's future".

He also criticised the "secretive" family court system, which he claimed was "hugely weighted towards the mother" and was "totally unfit for purpose".

The former Lewis actor, who in recent years has remodelled himself as a self-professed "anti-woke" campaigner and leader of the populist Reclaim Party, has found himself in the middle of several high-profile controversies.

One of his most recent controversies led to him being dropped by GB News over "misogynistic" comments he made on air about a female journalist. He later apologised.

In an interview with British Vogue, published on Friday, Piper said co-parenting her two children aged 11 and 15 with Fox amid such controversies came "with enormous difficulty".

"I've had to make some choices and a divorce speaks for itself. Or at least it should," she said.

"What is paramount for me is the privacy and anonymity of my children," she said. "They deserve not to be extensions of the parents and to forge their own identities."

British Vogue said the interview with Piper, published online on 15 March, took place days before a High Court judge ruled Fox had libelled two people when he referred to them as "paedophiles" on social media.

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Asked what she does when such dramas arise with Fox, Piper said: "I close everything down and keep a very strict routine with the kids so that there's consistency. I keep them close. That's all I can do."

She implied she asks her friends and family to avoid telling her about Fox, adding: "I try to keep people from telling me stuff but it's really, really hard.

"I don't read it but everyone wants to talk about it. Sometimes I have to say to people: 'Please don't bring this to me, now or ever'."