Chloe Madeley has spoken candidly about the moment she knew her marriage was over.
The 37-year-old daughter of veteran TV presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan was with former England rugby player, 39, for 11 years and they were married for five of them. They welcomed daughter Bodhi together in August 2022.
They announced their separation in October 2023, but appear to have remained on friendly terms, often being photographed together on outings with two-year-old Bodhi.
Now, the personal trainer and fitness coach, Chloe has opened up about where it all went wrong for them to Olivia Attwood on her video podcast So Wrong, It’s Right…
She began: “I’m one of those people who need structure and routine. My ex, and I, I think, one of the reasons things became so hard for us is that he thrives in chaos. His schedule, I don’t even remember the last time he was in England for a full week, he’s all over the place. And I just can’t do that. Can’t live like that. But now I’m trying to figure out how I can get my social life back and stuff so that’s a process as well.
“I think I knew that I was really unhappy, and I think he knew that he was really unhappy too. But I don’t think either of us ever would have predicted that we were going to break up. Ever. And I swear to God, it was just like one day, we were, I remember exactly where we were. I remember the day, the time, the temperature, the outfits, where we were, everything. I just remember saying I don’t think that we should do this anymore but really meaning it and it kind of went from there.”
Reflecting on where they are at now, she said: “There are still moments now where we kind of boomerang a bit. Moving out the house was a boomerang moment where you have to relive it again. And then we were both at Glastonbury and we ran into each other. I was with all of our mutual friends and he was with his more DJ friends and that was a weird moment. So, you kind of relive it sometimes. You know, here’s this person I have a child with and I was, I’m married to him and [we were together for] 11 years. It’s a long time.
“But you know, it was never just instantaneous. James and I were really good friends, I just want to be clear. We don’t work together romantically. We do work as friends, by and large, we’re very good friends. We spend loads of time together. Me, him and Bodhi are often at Sunday lunch together. He was with me on my birthday to basically be the parent while I got drunk. And I think, and I hope, that over time that is only going to get better, so you know, actually we made the right decision. We’re happier and we’re closer in many ways now than we were then.”
