Davina last seen with husband a year before they split
DAVINA MCCALL was not seen in public with her husband for a year before she announced their marriage was over.
The TV presenter, who turned 50 last month, was last spotted out with Matthew Robertson in November last year when they attended a party hosted by interior designer Kelly Hoppen.
Miss McCall, who announced the split at the weekend, normally shares an image on social media every day.
But she had not posted about her husband of 17 years on Instagram since August 2016, when the pair went on holiday to Canada.
According to a friend, Miss McCall adored the former Pet Rescue presenter, 48, but revealed they had ‘drifted apart’ in recent years.
‘Davina was incredibly in love with Matthew, and almost in his thrall’, the friend told the Daily Mail.
‘She would tell anyone who would listen just how handsome her husband was, and genuinely believed she was lucky to have him.’
The mother of three previously revealed they had attended counselling which she said had ‘worked brilliantly’, but had been open about how difficult it was to maintain a relationship.
A friend added: ‘Davina is exceptionally loyal and did all she could to work at the marriage, but their lives drifted increasingly apart over the past two years. There’s a lot of love still there, and they remain close.
‘Obviously there are children to consider, and with Christmas coming, both parties want to focus on their immediate family for the time being.’ There was no-one else
‘Lives drifted apart’
involved in the break up, according to The Sun.
Miss McCall was previously married to Andrew Leggett for three months in 1997 before meeting Mr Robertson by chance as she walked her dog on Clapham Common.
The couple married in 2000 and have two teenage daughters together, Holly, 16, Tilly, 14, and an 11-year-old son called Chester.
In a statement on Saturday night, Miss McCall said: ‘I am very sad to say that Matthew and I have separated. Our amazing children are our number one priority, above everything else, so therefore we ask for as much space and respect from the media as possible while our family goes through this difficult time.’
She declined to comment yesterday at the couple’s £4million eight-bedroomed mansion in Wadhurst, East Sussex. Just three days ago the former Big Brother presenter Tweeted about a mental health counselling app saying it ‘sounded like a great idea’.
Alongside anxiety and depression, the star also suggested the Minds for Life app could help with a ‘bad break-up’.
Neighbours in the village expressed their surprise at news of the split. Kippo Hewitt, 62, a patron of the White Hart pub, said Miss McCall was ‘very private’ but friendly. ‘We would see them around quite a lot to say hello and pass the time of day. When we saw them they were very friendly. He was great fun in the pub’, he said.
Meanwhile, Andy Farrow, 58, described the split as ‘a bit of a shock’ to the village.
And a neighbour living a few hundred yards from Miss McCall’s home said the couple kept to themselves but added: ‘We are just very sorry.’ Miss McCall, a former heroin addict, has been open about the challenges they have faced in their relationship.
In 2011 she admitted she found flirty messages from another women on his Facebook page but when she confronted him, Mr Robertson told her he had never responded. In 2015 she revealed she satisfies her husband in the bedroom because otherwise he might look elsewhere. She told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Matthew has strong views on underwear.
‘You must keep your husband satisfied in the bedroom department even if you’re absolutely exhausted. Otherwise he will go somewhere else.’
The couple renewed their vows that year at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.
Afterwards she said: ‘Often people renew their vows because they’re on the verge of divorce.
‘But it wasn’t like that. We are very romantic.’
She added: ‘I’m very lucky, because as far as I know I’ve married a really faithful guy.’