How Tess and Vernon managed to get over that scandal and their difficult past
The couple have got over their difficult past
‘Their marriage is in a loving and trusting place now’
Tess Daly joined the nation last week in enjoying an eyeful of her husband Vernon Kay as he stripped off for the shower on I’m A Celebrity. She gushed over her husband in a post alongside a throwback snap from 17 years ago, saying she was “so proud” of the 46 year old, and that she was “missing him”. Tess, 51, also shared a rare picture of the whole happy family, including daughters Phoebe, 16, and Amber, 11. But long-time fans of the showbiz couple will know their marriage hasn’t always been as perfect as it looks now, and that it’s taken a long time for the pair to get to where they are today in their relationship.
An insider close to the Strictly Come Dancing presenter tells heat they “fought tooth and nail to get themselves back into a loving and trusting place in their marriage, following Vernon’s sexting scandal with Rhian Sugden. They can even joke about it now.”
In 2010, Vernon was caught sexting Page 3 model Rhian – who was 23 at the time, while Vernon was 35. The pair met at a Bolton nightclub and began exchanging flirty messages on Twitter. At the time, his spokesperson confirmed he had sent racy texts, but claimed they had never slept together. Vernon – presenter of All Star Family Fortunes at the time – later publicly apologised to Tess on the radio, saying, “Tess is extremely upset. Hopefully I can clear the slate and start again.” Their daughters were five and eight months at the time.
Our source tells us, “They’ve had years of sorting through it, but they’re in a better place now. Vernon treats Tess like a queen – he’s more than proved himself to her. It was so hard to deal with it all in the public eye. She had to be certain she was never going to be put through that hell ever again.”
The scandal reared its head again in 2016, when it was revealed that Vernon had been messaging Rhian again over the course of three months, saying that he wanted to “reconnect”. Vernon confirmed he had contacted her, but claimed the messages were taken out of context and that “there was never inappropriate intent”. He added that he was “merely trying to find answers to questions that I’ve had since 2010”.
In a documentary shown this year, Rhian, now 34, said that Vernon had “just got away with it”, but insisted that the scandal ruined her career. The model didn’t seem too fussed by Vernon’s appearance on I’m A Celeb, though, sharing a snap of herself in her underwear to show just how unfazed she was. ■