Olympic hero Cracknell’s shock split from wife
OLYMPIC rowing hero James Cracknell has split from his TV host wife, who nursed him back to health after a brain injury.
The 46-year- old released a joint statement with Beverley Turner, 45, announcing the end of their 17-year marriage.
The couple have three children, a son Croyde, 15, and daughters Kiki, ten, and seven-year-old Trixie.
Their statement read: ‘Together, we remain committed to our amazing children, they are our absolute priority and wish people to be kind and mindful of this.’ The pair’s marriage came under intense pressure in 2010 when Cracknell suffered a devastating brain injury while attempting to cycle, row, run and swim across the US in 18 days.
Cycling in Arizona, he was hit from behind by the wing-mirror of a petrol tanker travelling at 70mph, which caused his brain to slam forward, crushing the frontal lobes – the part that controls personality.
In the aftermath, he went from being ‘laid-back’ to aggressive and irritable – with his wife bearing the brunt of his dark side. In a joint autobiography with the sportsman, she revealed how she feared for her life when the 6ft 4in rower tried to throttle her during an argument. At the time, she was pregnant with their third child.
She wrote: ‘Sick of being bullied, I try to push past James and he flips. He grabs me round the neck and, with one powerful hand, holds me down on the bed. He tightens his grip until I can’t breathe.’ Miss Turner, a former ITV Formula 1 presenter and radio host on the BBC and LBC, hinted at strains in the marriage in an interview last year.
She said: ‘We have had to work quite hard to make sure our relationship is OK because the kids would quite like us to stay together.
‘On the whole it’s better for us to stay together, although it is incredibly difficult.’ She added: ‘The reality is every relationship will go a bit s***.’
Cracknell, who retired from elite rowing in 2006, won a gold medal in the coxless four event at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the Athens games four years later.
The news of his marriage split comes a week before he is due to become the oldest rower to compete in the OxfordCambridge Boat Race. The star, who will represent Cambridge, has spent the past eight months there as a mature student studying for a masters in human evolutionary studies.
His wife and children have remained at their London home. A friend of the couple said: ‘I don’t think anyone else is involved, they seem to have simply grown apart and separated at the end of last year. Their main priority is the children. They have been concerned that it affects them as little as possible and Beverley is taking them on holiday for Easter. James and Bev will always be good friends and carry on being the best parents they can.’
Cracknell, a former geography teacher, has taken part in many endurance events. In 2006, he and TV adventurer Ben Fogle rowed the Atlantic in 49 days. Miss Turner appeared on Channel 4’s Celebrity Island last year.
‘Always be good friends’