Only a few days had passed since Vernon Kay proposed to Tess Daly at her parents’ modest house, and they were giddy with joy.
Enthusiastic, they called a red-top newspaper’s gossip columnists to share the exclusive news that they were getting married a year after first meeting at a joyous BBC party.
I was enthralled with their enthusiasm as a 21-year-old doing work experience at the newspaper. As they described the momentous occasion and disclosed that they would be getting married as soon as possible, I could hear their well-known northern voices.
They were completely enamoured with one another.
Putting aside the fact that Tess is five years older than Vernon, their romance was definitely aided by the fact that, when they first began their careers in show business, they were a working-class, grounded couple who enjoyed a good joke.
However, the message that appeared on my phone on Friday shortly after 6 p.m. after 24 years was not good news. The exact opposite. I received a note informing me that Tess, 57, and Vernon, 52, had recently declared their separation nearly 23 years after getting married.
News of a famous couple’s breakup is rarely shocking. However, this one most certainly has. There had been no rumours that something wasn’t right. They only posted photos from their Caribbean vacation a few weeks ago, but perhaps tellingly, there were no selfies of the couple together.
The couple decided to share their news on Instagram, where they shared identical messages that were, I believe, written with assistance from their PR staff.
We have decided to part ways peacefully after giving it a lot of thought and with a great deal of concern and respect for one another.
Vernon Kay and Tess Daly on their 2003 wedding day.According to Katie Hind, there was no question that they were deeply in love.
According to Katie, the news of a famous couple breaking up is rarely shocking. However, this one has
This decision has not been simple, but it stems from a mutual understanding and a desire to do what is best for both of us.
We are still close friends and, above all, devoted to our responsibilities as devoted and caring parents, which will always come first.
This decision does not involve any other parties. We respectfully request your privacy while we work through this change together. There won’t be any further public remarks from us.
When a famous couple announces their breakup on a Friday night, it’s usually because they’ve just found out that a Sunday newspaper is going to expose some scandalous activity.
Tess and Vernon’s teams, however, maintain that there is no third party engaged and that this is clearly not the case.
Indeed, I am certain that the moment was selected with the finest of intentions. Before their oldest daughter Phoebe, who currently resides in New York, returned there yesterday, they wanted to make the announcement.
Friends of the couple tell me that their unexpected breakup was due to the fact that they were both very different from the people they were on Christmas Day 2002 when Vernon proposed, rather than trying to avoid any extracurricular infractions, such as when Vernon was caught sexting a Page 3 model back in 2010 (more on that later).
The five-year age difference didn’t seem to matter back then. It seems to be at the core of their decision to part ways today.
The friend remarks, “They are completely different people now.” They had a lot in common once, but now things are different. They’ve evolved. They have aged in different ways.
While Vernon is still a young child, Tess needs to find an older, wealthy man with a yacht. He enjoys going out and having fun, drinking, and laughing. He enjoys hosting disco evenings from the 1990s. He adores Oasis, American football, and football in general.
Tess has no interest in any of that. She is a somewhat stiff woman in her late 50s. Although Vernon is only five years younger, the age difference seems to have grown lately. They’ve come to the realisation that their goals and lifestyles differ from one another.
In actuality, Radio 2 DJ Vernon has frequently gone out without his wife during the last year. He saw Oasis play on their reunion tour five times, but not with Tess. He was photographed alongside his hero, Noel Gallagher, during the Brit Awards. Once more, Tess was not on his arm.
Tess, 57, and Vernon, 52, are five years apart in age, which seems to have played a major role in their choice to part ways.
DJ Vernon of Radio 2 has frequently gone out without his spouse. Five times, he attended Oasis’s reunion tour.
He loves travelling to the US to watch the Super Bowl because he is a huge admirer of American football. Vernon adores playing golf, but Tess doesn’t share his enthusiasm.
Notably, Vernon has started going out more with his daughter Phoebe, who turned 21 in October of last year. Vernon shared a picture of them together at the Rosewood hotel in central London just two days ago. In the photo, he seemed to be drinking a cocktail.
According to friends, Vernon has been giving his “BBC Radio 2 Dance Sounds of the 90s” live tour, which he is conducting throughout the UK this year, a lot of attention lately. Vernon now “loves to do” the event, which always sells out.
“It isn’t exactly Tess’s cup of tea,” they tell me once more.
“Basically, without meaning to, they’ve been living separate lives,” my insider continues simply. They have various interests and pastimes, and they don’t actually do much together anymore.
They had drifted apart. They came to the conclusion that splitting up would make their lives better after realising this.
They are both in their 50s, have a lot of time remaining, and have made the decision that they would be happy apart. Everything is incredibly friendly. Together, they have experienced a great deal of happiness and hardship.
The romance between Tess and Vernon was a fast-paced tale. While Tess anchored the children’s program SMTV, he was making a name for himself as a television personality after working as a male model for the teenage girl magazine Mizz.
Tess was 32 and Vernon was 27 when they first met at a BBC Christmas party in 2001, and they clicked right away.
They were married in September 2003, less than two years later, in St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Horwich, Vernon’s hometown, which is close to Bolton. Amber arrived in 2009, and Phoebe was born the following year.
Friends claim that the girls were “fine” with Tess and Vernon’s decision and were “very much” involved in the discussion during their breakup.
Tess, who is in her late 50s and no longer hosts Strictly, now plans to live alone.
Tess at Windsor Castle last year collecting her MBE… Phoebe, the couple’s oldest daughter, has started spending a lot more time with Vernon.
Tess and Vernon’s romance took off; two years after they first met, they were married, and a year later, Phoebe was born.
According to a family acquaintance, “everyone is actually happy with the arrangement, even though it sounds strange.”
at fact, Phoebe and Tess were out for a day at Eton, Berkshire, on Friday, only hours before the shocking announcement was made.
Tess, Vernon, and their kids have a very strong and intimate relationship. The source claims that their girls were their top priority.
Even while friends claim to be looking forward to their life apart, one of them admits that their breakup will negatively impact their bank account “in the nicest possible way.”
They currently possess a gorgeous property with a swimming pool in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, and are estimated to be worth approximately £5 million. As the anchor of Radio 2’s midmorning show, Vernon earns £395,000, making her one of the best paid celebrities on the BBC. Tess, who left Strictly last year after 21 years, was earning about £400,000 every series.
When combined, they were the ideal for any brand. They received tens of thousands of pounds to serve as Marks & Spencer food ambassadors, but their followers have made fun of videos of them eating food together, calling it “cringe.”
Additionally, they participated in a social media campaign to promote the Japanese restaurant chain Nobu.
The most thrilling of all for BBC executives was the expectation that the two would be the “next Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan” as hosts of The One Show after they co-hosted the program in February and were universally praised for its success.
Divorce must unavoidably be imminent even though their split is still in its early stages. Although it’s unclear if the family will decide to sell, Vernon will probably move out of the house. Although others have joked that Vernon may now be in the outhouse, the two are still together on the property.
According to a source in show industry, “things are pretty equal between them.” They were in quite comparable circumstances when they got married. Although they have made comparable amounts throughout the years, they are leaving it substantially richer.
“A brutal divorce battle is not anticipated.”
However, one must worry if the breakup would bring back some of Tess’s most painful memories. She was devastated to discover in 2010 that Vernon had been “sexting” Manchester-based beauty model Rhian Sugden after they had met at a Bolton nightclub.
It became out that Vernon had been sending her obscene texts after they switched numbers.
He acknowledged that it was a “stupid decision” but clarified that he had never had a sexual encounter. “I have let down a lot of people,” he declared. I really apologise to my family and everyone else.
According to insiders, Tess was incensed and found it difficult to accept her husband’s actions. They questioned their ability to be together for at least a year.
Then, when travelling to France in 2013, Vernon shocked Tess by planning a covert vow renewal ceremony.
I made reservations for a weekend stay at our preferred hotel in the South of France. I told Tess’s stylist that I needed four dresses. When Vernon appeared on I’m A Celebrity in 2020, he said, “She didn’t know anything.”
Since I overheard Tess and Vernon’s deliriously joyful phone chat back in 2002, I’ve met them multiple times, and each time they seemed to bounce off each other.
When Vernon hosted the disastrous ITV diving show Splash in 2013, I remember laughing with them about his choice of shorts.
Tess told me that she had forbidden her husband from wearing them at home after dissecting him for his ridiculous choice.
“Things change and times change,” the couple’s buddy says.
Compared to this time last year, Tess’s life appears to be considerably different. When she and her co-host Claudia Winkleman announced in October of last year that they were leaving their presenting positions, she shocked the millions of Strictly viewers.
Tess, who is in her late 50s, is looking forward to being a single lady and not hosting the largest show on television because her ex will probably be causing trouble.
However, pals claim that Tess is content with the breakup despite what appears to be a tense situation.
The friend remarks, “She’s tougher than she looks.” “She’ll be alright.”
