After having an affair with her ex-husband Grant Bovey while they were both married, Anthea Turner said that she “was cancelled before we even had the word.”
After eight years of marriage to Radio 1 DJ Peter Powell, the 65-year-old television host divorced him in 1998 for his friend and real estate developer Grant.
Anthea was called a “homewrecker” after Grant abandoned his wife Della and their three girls, who were then two, four, and six years old.
In a recent interview, Anthea reflected on that period of her life, calling it “a difficult time” and acknowledging that she believed her career was ended because she was excluded from all prospects. “I was “cancelled” before we even had the word,” she told The Mirror. “Yes, I was completely ignored during a trying period—over, done, and I couldn’t be arrested.”
She clarified that she discovered the TV industry had changed after the crisis had finally subsided and she “walked forward again into the sunshine.”
After having an affair with her ex-husband Grant Bovey while they were both married, Anthea Turner claimed she “was cancelled before we even had the word.”
The 65-year-old TV host was married to Radio 1 DJ Peter Powell for eight years before divorcing him in 1998 for his friend and real estate developer Grant (pictured together in 2008). “If you weren’t a gardener, a cook, an interior designer, or an expert on history or wildlife, you were stuffed,” Anthea recalled. “Oh my goodness me, that’s probably me done,” I recall thinking.
After dating for fifteen years and getting married in 2000, she and Grant broke up in 2012 after she found out he had an affair with interior designer Zoe de Mallet Morgan.
After a brief reconciliation, Anthea found out in 2013 that he was still seeing Zoe, who was 26 years Grant’s junior and 24 years old at the time. The couple divorced in 2015.
However, the Celebrity Big Brother star stated that, in retrospect, she was happy the marriage ended since it gave her “emotional and professional freedom.”
“After my divorce, I met myself again,” Anthea remarked. The person I am now in my sixties is quite similar to the person I was in my thirties, but I have the advantage of experience.
“I did everything I could to maintain my marriage to Grant, but if I had stayed in it, I wouldn’t be the emotionally and professionally independent woman I am today.”
“There is absolutely no bitterness,” she said, insisting that she is “on good terms” with both of her ex-husbands. I had some wonderful years with Grant, and I had some wonderful years with Peter.
Anthea previously told the Telegraph about the criticism she faced for having an affair with Grant:I took responsibility for it because, as they say, “There’s nobody else involved,” you know full well that there is.
“I asked a friend of mine who works as a lawyer to make a statement because if they didn’t, they would start probing and something would be discovered.”
“I look back on it all now, it was a series of unfortunate events,” she admitted.
The former Blue Peter star has maintained that she does not regret marrying Grant in spite of his adultery.
Do public individuals’ past transgressions inevitably determine their future, or can they ever be forgiven for scandals?
After dating for fifteen years and getting married in 2000, she and Grant broke up in 2012 after learning that he had been having an affair with interior designer Zoe de Mallet Morgan, who was twenty-four at the time (pictured with Grant in 2013).
She stated last year that “nothing changed” in her relationship with Grant’s children, Amelia, Lily, and Claudia, following the divorce (seen with Lily in 2019). “I can understand why some people think I got my comeuppance when my relationship then went on to deteriorate in the way it did,” she said. However, I adored Grant and had no regrets about our 15 years together. There were moments of great joy.
“I’m a glass is half-full kind of woman and I always think of all the good things that came of our marriage,” she continued to Richard Eden of the Daily Mail in 2023. “People who walk around with a big bag of regrets, recriminations, they never move forward properly.”I’m not a natural resident, therefore I move on, and I believe that’s how women survive.
Anthea previously disclosed that, unaware that Grant was already having an affair with a 24-year-old, she penned a letter to him begging him to see how the menopause was to blame for her behaviour in their marriage.
She tried to write down the changes she was going through because she said that her work obligations made it difficult to have a good chat with her former partner.
She declared last year that “nothing changed” in her relationship with Grant’s children, Amelia, Lily, and Claudia, despite the divorce.
She said to OK, “They’ve been in my life since they were two, five, and six.”You never know what will happen when a relationship ends, so I have to say that when their father, my ex-husband Grant, and I broke up, I thought, “Oh gosh…”
However, nothing changed with the females and myself.After sharing a flat with friends, Claudia actually lived with me for a while.
Considering that it’s not an umbilical chord relationship, it’s a fantastic one. We are in one other’s lives because we genuinely enjoy one another; nobody is pressuring us.
After Claudia and Lily both gave birth to boys, she also became a grandma and exclaimed, “I’m Granny Anth!” with pride. I’m overjoyed.
In the present, Anthea has fallen in love once more with millionaire businessman Mark Armstrong. The two became engaged in 2019 while on a romantic vacation in Italy.
In the present, Anthea has fallen in love once more with rich businessman Mark Armstrong. The two became engaged in 2019 while on a romantic vacation in Italy (pictured last year).
She recently gushed that she’s been “given a second chance at love” and that, despite her divorces, she still feels optimistic about marriage. She and Mark intend to get married this year after postponing it because to COVID and his mother’s passing.
But after her notorious “Flake Gate” wedding to Grant, she has claimed that she will choose a smaller ceremony this time.
After posing while consuming Cadbury’s Flake chocolate bars in a promotional tie-in, Anthea and Grant’s extravagant 2000 wedding provoked criticism.
According to reports, they received £450,000 for the embarrassing pictures, which fans ridiculed and harshly condemned.
Twenty-six years after the lavish event, Anthea acknowledged that it was “nowhere near what I wanted” and expressed the opinion that large “flash” weddings are becoming less common.
She remarked, “It was so extravagant,” during a February visit on Vanessa Feltz’s Channel 5 show.In retrospect, I do recall thinking, “This is not me; I don’t really want it to be so big.” This was far from what I was hoping for.
“But I kind of got sucked into the whole thing, and it got bigger and bigger until, of course, a chocolate bar was shoved in my face, and that was the end of it.”
