‘EXTRA TIME HELPS THEM APPRECIATE THINGS’ Abbey still ‘fancies the pants off’ Pete
She said it was “love at first sight” when she first laid eyes on the footballer 14 years ago, with the pair going on to marry and have four children.
Now, Abbey Clancey’s Instagram gives a glimpse of their picture-perfect family life, including gushing posts about her “incredible” husband, 39-year-old Peter Crouch. But things haven’t always been so rosy for the golden couple.
In 2010, their relationship was rocked by allegations the England player cheated on his then-pregnant fiancée with a 19-year-old prostitute during a friend’s stag weekend in Madrid.
But the pair quickly got things back on track – tying the knot in a country house hotel three months after Abbey gave birth to their now nine-year-old daughter Sophia in 2011 – and have become known as one of the strongest couples in showbiz. Although she joked last month that the pair “hated each other and didn’t have sex” while she was pregnant with their youngest, 11-month old Jack, she recently revealed that “in the last seven weeks we haven’t had one argument” since isolating at home with their children, who also include Liberty, four, and Johnny, two. She also posted snaps of Pete walking with their children, writing, “Thankful for my beautiful family in such uncertain times. We will always have each other.”
And insiders say that, even though having the children with them 24/7 has kept them busy, it has also cemented their bond. The source says, “Lockdown has made Abbey and Peter take a moment to pause and appreciate what they have. They’re both really fun, playful characters, and without the stresses of their usually hectic working schedules, they have loved spending time playing with the kids in the garden, then having relaxed evenings in front of the TV. In turn, it’s really put the spark back in the bedroom, too.
“Family values are important to both of them, and Abbey says she finds how amazing Pete is as a dad really sexy. They work so well together because they’re the best of friends – and they still fancy the pants off each other.”
And friends also say the prospect of their new level of fame post-lockdown – with Pete securing his own BBC primetime show, Save Our Summer, and his self-titled podcast becoming the most popular in the UK – is “adding excitement into their relationship.”
The pair, who often appear on C4’s Celebrity Gogglebox, delight fans with their banter – with joker Pete once admitting he’s “punching above his weight” with the model, while Abbey teased, “He’s hopeless at housework... The only thing he’s good at with his height is changing light bulbs.”