Life after Kate...

It was a rare outing for the Threapleton family - little Mia with her dad Jim and his estranged wife Kate walking through a London park like any other young family. Except, as we all know, 22-month-old Mia has had a most unconventional upbringing - alternately jetting around the world with Kate, and then enjoying a more sedate lifestyle with her father.

While a typical night out for Kate Winslet and her lover, director Sam Mendes, might consist of an A-list Hollywood party or dinner at The Ivy back here in London with Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow, her former husband is more likely to be seen having a pint at his local in Kilburn or a pizza in with his girlfriend Claire Southern.

When Winslet is not attending her boyfriend's premieres or filming she will, no doubt, be spending more time in the country, overseeing the builders at the £3 million house she has just bought in the Cotswolds. Threapleton, meanwhile, is content with his north London life.

In fact, he is more than happy with the situation and, according to friends, is also about to find the professional success that eluded him when he was known merely as Mr Winslet. The 27-year-old film producer will also, they say, soon play his trump card, by telling everyone what really happened to end their marriage, despite the rumours that he signed a gagging clause when he and Kate divorced.

Those who know him give much of the credit for this change in fortune to his new girlfriend. "They are in love," says a friend. 'They spend all their time together, and he is a different person now that he's met Claire, having gone through a horrible time after the break-up last September. Claire is quietly supportive of him, while Kate used to nag at him and point out his lack of success. It's ironic that his career should take off now that he's divorced from Kate, when everyone used to say that anything he achieved before was only because of his association with a Hollywood star. He's the nicest bloke, and everyone's really happy for him."

Southern, who is a publicist at Rough Guide travel books is coy about their relationship, confirming only that they have been dating for some months. "Yes, I am going out with Jim," she says. "We're not living together at the moment. I live in my flat in north London and he lives a short distance away. I don't feel very comfortable about speaking about our relationship." All a far cry from Winslet, who chose to speak about her love for Threapleton at every opportunity, something that Threapleton, who comes from a stiff-upperlip military family, found hard to deal with.

The pair, who met on the set of Hideous Kinky, where Threapleton was third assistant director, married in a lowkey ceremony followed by a bangers-and-mash reception. But Jim soon found that his bride was not content to live the down-to-earth life once she was offered starring roles in box-office hits such as Iris and Enigma. Threapleton now spends his time either with his brother Robin, who is in the RAF, with a circle of close, trusted friends drawn largely from his days at Manchester University, where he studied art history, or with Claire. His celebrity friends disappeared with Winslet. He still sees his ex-wife, but only in connection with their daughter.

"Jim jokes that he has no need to be part of the 'scene' any more because he has had enough flashbulbs popping in his face to last a lifetime," says one of his circle. "He found it hard being Kate's hanger-on. It was emasculating."

On the work front, Threapleton does seem to be achieving something. During his relationship with Winslet, he appeared to use the title "film director" in the loosest possible terms. But, post-Winslet, all that has changed. He was at the Cannes Film Festival this year, drumming up business for his company, Ultra Films, networking with Hollywood executives and partying until the early hours. He danced at one event until 5am with journalist Polly Williams - who ironically conducted the infamous interview for InStyle magazine with Winslet last September. At the time, Williams wrote that the actress and her husband had "a passionate tenderness that feels almost intrusive to witness". Their bombshell announcement came days later. Williams then dated Threapleton briefly, and has remained a close friend.

Andy Noble, Threapleton's business partner at Ultra Films, says the company is taking off. "We've got a couple of projects close to going into production. They're at the first stage of development, so we don't want to be too specific."