FAMOUS MEN WHO TOOK THEIR TIME TO GROW UP

had a bit of a disagreement over our son’s bedtime last night and because I didn’t say exactly what he wanted...he has gone into a massive sulk…We have already had a major fall- out over his aggressive nature. This week he stamped on my children’s pushchair because it wouldn’t fold down easily, leaving the children crying…’

So what can you do if you find yourself married to an overgrown child? Is it possible that your partner will change? The answer is yes. ‘Maturity can speed up at any time of life,’ says Bristow. ‘We’ve all heard people say how certain major events – maybe losing a parent, or the end of a marriage – made them grow up fast.’

The bad news is that no one else can make it happen or do it for you. ‘You can’t change your partner; you can only change your role in the relationship,’ advises Bristow. Don’t be his mum – be his model. ‘If he’s having a tantrum, deny the payoff by walking away. Don’t engage with it. If you’ve always given in before or raged back at him, or distracted him and “managed him”, you’ll certainly feel a pull to do that, and you may even feel guilty, but hold yourself firm.’

If you’re the person who needs to do the growing up, therapy can be a helpful option. ‘However, a good place to start is to be aware of it,’ says Bristow. ‘Once you’re aware of how you feel, how you act, then you’ve got the potential to change it. We all have to learn ways to contain our difficult emotions. If you shout at your partner whenever you feel angry, why don’t you change your behaviour and go for a run instead? Anger is a very physical emotion.’

Of course, these are lessons best learned in childhood. For parents keen to nurture emotional literacy in children, Dr Rudd has devised board games such as Rainbow and her EQ card game which encourage children to voice and understand their feelings and those of others.

Sadly, in some instances, you may opt to walk away from your ‘little lost boy’, as Amber Heard has and as Lucy did, too. She now raises their five-year- old son alone. Jim still plays his part – in his own way, on his own terms.

‘He pays maintenance intermittently and he turns up when it suits him – but not if he has a party to go to or if he’s tired or under the weather,’ says Lucy. ‘Our son loves his daddy because he takes him to theme parks, or on helicopter rides. When they’re together, Jim gets to act like the kid again. I’m still waiting for the day when he decides to be the grown-up.’ CHRIS EVANS’s first wife CAROL McGIFFIN separated from the radio presenter in 1993. She recalls Chris’s aversion to confrontation when she tried to leave him, ‘He stopped me, saying, “No, you’re not leaving, I’ll go,” and for a moment it was like a race to get out first, both getting stuck in the door. He took nothing except the keys to the Porsche and disappeared.’ Carol believes, ‘I definitely got Chris too early. He wasn’t ready for me, let alone marriage.’ CHERYL FERNANDEZ-VERSINI married her first husband, footballer ASHLEY COLE, when she was 23 and he was 26. When their marriage hit the rocks she explained his behaviour by saying, ‘Ashley’s young, and he’s got a young mentality for his age.’ They divorced in 2010. Former Westlife singer BRIAN McFADDEN’s and KERRY KATONA’s split was a mutual decision. However, Brian has since admitted that he was too immature [they were both 22 when they married] to have two children with her. They divorced in 2006 after less than four years. He says: ‘If we hadn’t had kids, the marriage wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did. I was too young to understand what having kids meant. [To me] having a child was like getting a dog.’ Following his announcement that he and COURTENEY COX were splitting after 11 years of marriage, actor DAVID ARQUETTE spoke to Howard Stern’s radio show. He admitted that Courteney was tired of his immaturity. ‘She said to me, “I don’t want to be your mother any more.” She didn’t want to nag me.’ They divorced in 2013. During the heat of KATIE PRICE’s notorious divorce from ex-husband PETER ANDRE, Katie admitted that she found him ‘immature’, saying, ‘He’s changing his number so I can never contact him again. He has got a phone for the kids, so when he’s got the kids, I have to phone it, too. Which I think is stupid of him because if the kids ever have an accident, I have no one else to call. I don’t know what goes on in his head.’ Although she’s now on better terms with her ex, Katie says that Peter dumped her for ‘the most stupid reasons ever’.

The big test of maturity is whether he can tolerate frustration