Russell Brand’s wife Laura has told a court her husband is “caring, kind and a wonderful father to our children”.

The 39-year-old told the jury at his rape and sexual assault trial that “the way he treats me is to know me”, adding: “I feel very seen by him… I love him very much.”

The media personality faces seven charges – three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault. He denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.

Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court in London on Thursday, Laura Brand was asked by the defence barrister if her husband respected her when she didn’t want to be sexual with him, and she replied: “Yes absolutely.”

Laura Brand, the daughter of golfer Bernard Gallacher and sister of TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher, married Brand in 2017.

She told the court she first met him at the Edinburgh festival in 2006, explaining that he took her number and they started a relationship soon afterwards.

She said that after his performance: “I went over and said I’m Laura, Kirsty sister. That was a great show.”

He contacted her the next day, she said. When they met, she said they had oral sex, adding: “He might have wanted to have sex but I didn’t want to.”

The entertainer has displayed little emotion during the course of his trial, but was seen smiling broadly during parts of his wife’s evidence.

He let out a laugh when she told the court: “We do have many friends and there are colleagues, and we are grateful for those people.”

Her evidence came a day after the star appeared in the witness box himself.

He told the jury the allegations had a “devastating” impact on his relationships with friends and colleagues, meaning they would not touch him “with a bargepole”.

He also said on Wednesday that he believes sexual consent is “fundamental, essential, necessary and indeed in many ways more important than sex itself”.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the court also heard that a former girlfriend of Russell Brand described the defendant as “gentle” and “loving”.

Elia Alvarez Diaz said they were in a relationship and lived together for about a year from 1998 to 1999, after meeting when she was training at a drama centre in London.

She described him as being “highly persuasive… a complex character” and “exciting to be with”.

“When I said no, however, he accepted it,” she said in a statement.

Their relationship ended because he cheated on her repeatedly, she said.

The trial continues.