AS his gorgeous wife walked the red carpet in a tight strapless gown just 11 weeks after giving birth, Jamie Laing couldn’t resist boasting about her being back to work.
But in fact Sophie Habboo hadn’t really taken any time off – filming continued for their new Disney reality show only days after having son Ziggy. And while on camera and social media, the pair have made being new parents look like a breeze. But we can reveal the couple have been secretly struggling behind the scenes.
Their relationship certainly hasn’t always been easy – from mismatched libidos to cheating scandals and arguments so bad one of them even packed a bag to leave, but we’re told things really reached a boiling point recently.
An insider explained: “Sophie and Jamie actually had a really difficult time filming.
“They didn’t really expect it to be as much pressure as it was, and part of them wishes they had never agreed to do it.
“It’s never easy for first-time parents, and the added stress of being filmed was much harder than they ever thought. It’s not like filming Made In Chelsea.
“Their families were naturally concerned about what they were taking on, especially for Sophie, who has been forced to be camera-ready so soon.
“It’s taken a toll on them, but despite the doubts, they are really pleased with the final outcome. It’s raw and unfiltered and will really give people a glimpse into what life is really like for them.”
The couple, who welcomed Ziggy in December, recently shared the first look at Raising Chelsea, which promises to be a “no-holds-barred whirlwind journey of the next chapter.”
Fans are certainly keen to see the reality of their lives, after Jamie has found himself under fire for some ill-advised social media posts since becoming a dad.
The 37-year-old sweet company owner was accused of making other new mums feel inadequate as he showed off about Sophie hosting the Baftas.
It was an incredible achievement to be on the red carpet just 11-weeks after Ziggy’s birth, which would fill most new parents with horror.
He later backtracked and shared some pictures of Sophie in her trackies – make-up free, writing: “Don’t believe everything you see.”
In December, he was slammed for measuring Sophie’s achievements by how postpartum she was, this time just 21 days.
“POV: your wife is 3 weeks postpartum and still creates a magical Christmas,” he boasted. Fans slammed the post as ‘insensitive’, with one commenting, “This is super unrealistic.”
It fell particularly flat because just before the couple splashed the cash on a £14k a week retreat with 24-hour baby care, massages and Michelin star chefs.
Deep parenting fears
Jamie’s reaction to parenthood has also been interesting. Only months before announcing they were having a baby, he candidly admitted his deep fears about becoming a dad, which would ring alarm bells for some women.
Speaking on his own Great Company podcast, he said: “I would really like to have one, but it has been a real long road because I was really scared of babies and I was really scared of commitment.
“The idea of not being able to escape something, with work or even divorce, there’s always a way out. But with a baby, there’s no way out.
“There is no way out because you are committed to that little human forever, and that for me is really quite scary.
Jamie added: “[It’s] still really scary, it is a real fear. To the point where at the start of last year, Sophie thought she was pregnant, and I had to leave the restaurant because I was so stressed.”
He made the comments in January of 2025, and by June, the couple had announced they were expecting. Jamie was forced to face his fears head-on and with nowhere to hide.
Discussions about filming it all were well underway – the next chapter was happening, and with a camera crew in tow.
It was however intitially going to be a rather different show – their ex co-stars Louise Thompson, Millie Mackintosh, Hugo Taylor and Ryan Libby were also due to appear in the series.
We previously told how the couples had all already started filming but were brutally culled.
They were all furious and Sophie and Jamie were accused of “snaking” their one-time castmates and “hijacking” a money-spinning deal with Disney+.
A pal said at the time: “They had all been signed to the top secret Disney project, and then Jamie snaked them, is what we’re being told…
“They had all signed up, and even started filming on the project, with Disney keen to build on its reality TV collection.
“But then Jamie and Habs got pregnant. Disney agreed the focus should be on them alone because their podcast is going great guns, they’ve been given a Radio 1 show and Jamie’s ultra marathon efforts endeared him to the nation.
“The other four were cut out, and left high and dry.
“Beyond that, they had turned down filming for Beyond Chelsea (the spin-off MIC show) so have actively lost additional money as well as, obviously, the original six-figure deal.
“They’re absolutely livid and feel they’ve been snaked. There is huge animosity and it is all incredibly awkward – not least because Chelsea isn’t a huge place so they are bound to bump into one another in bars and shops. It’s pretty explosive.”
A rocky road to romance
It was yet another reminder that Sophie and Jamie are no normal parents – they met and fell in love on telly, and it’s been far from smooth sailing.
In fact, Jamie wasn’t even on Sophie’s radar when she joined the Made in Chelsea cast back in 2017. Six months into her stint, she began dating fellow reality TV star Sam Thompson.
She ended things, though, because he was giving her “too much attention”, and it was around this time that she and Jamie began to hang out as best friends.
During a televised trip to South Africa in 2019, Jamie realised he had feelings for Sophie but didn’t make a move so as not to upset his close friend and Sophie’s ex, Sam.
By the time summer came around, rumours that the two were dating began to swirl, and Sam was not happy.
However, just four months into exclusively dating each other back in 2019, Jamie cheated on Sophie.
At a Made in Chelsea garden party, Rosi Mai Walden revealed she had been seeing Jamie at the same time as Sophie, and he even slept with both women on the same day.
Sophie was quick to call Jamie out for his behaviour and put an end to their budding romance.
She told him: “You were my friend and you’ve embarrassed me so much.
“You slept with Rosi in the morning and slept with me that evening. I’ve got every single message on my phone. I don’t care if you don’t like me, but I thought you were a great person.
“I thought you were the best person ever, and you’re not. You’re bad. You’re a mean person.”
After two weeks of no contact, she decided to give him another chance, provided he would work on his infidelity.
ANY SOURCE QUOTES ON HOW THEY’VE OVERCOME THIS?
Just a year later, the couple moved in together in a rented flat in Notting Hill, London.
A year after moving in together, the pair announced their engagement in late 2021 and started their podcast, NearlyWeds.
The pair were quick to spill the tea on the inner workings of their relationship – including their sex lives – or lack thereof.
On one episode of their podcast, the pair joked that their libidos were completely out of sync.
“I honestly would have sex every day,” Jamie told their listeners.
He added that his wife had a much lower libido than him, joking that she “would have sex every five years.”
However, Sophie clarified that she would actually have sex up to twice a year, on special occasions.
“No, I’d have it on your birthday and at Christmas, and that would be perfectly [fine],” she said.
‘Low libido’ and lazy between the sheets
Speaking to the Sun, Jamie admitted that since the pair wed in 2023, their sex life has become even harder work.
He revealed he was “lazy” when it comes to spicing things up, adding, “Sophie did say I was bog standard at sex, and that is probably a fair description.
“You get worse as you get married. You become lazy.
“I used to start doing joined-up handwriting, then I thought, ‘I can’t be bothered with that as it’s quicker for me to not do it joined up’, I’m a bit like that in the bedroom.
“I don’t give up halfway but I do remember that once I rolled on top of Sophie and she said, ‘Oh, get on with it’.”
Ophie also admitted that Jamie threatens to walk out on their marriage “twice a year”.
Talking on the podcast, with her husband laughing in the background, she told their listeners: “When Jamie’s really, really angry with me, when we have had the worst fight ever, what he does is he’ll come in, and he’ll go, ‘Sophie – I’m leaving you’.
“And he does it, maybe, I’d say twice a year.
“He’ll be like, ‘I don’t want you to react. But there’s no point in talking to me. I am leaving you. I’ve got my backpack, and I’m going’. And I go, ‘all right’.”
Of course, neither of them has actually ever left. Being honest about their feelings is a big part of their brand – and there’s plenty more of where that came from on their new show.
Sophie Habboo and Jamie Laing – relationship timeline
MADE In Chelsea stars Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo said I Do in 2023. Here’s their love story.
- The couple first met while appearing in the E4 show Made In Chelsea.
- During a trip to South Africa, which aired towards the end of MIC series 17, Jamie began to realise he had feelings for Sophie.
- The couple first got together in 2019 but endured a number of obstacles including a cheating scandal during the same year, as he slept with Rosi Mai Waldon while the pair were exclusively dating.
- Jamie and Sophie managed to successfully put the past behind them and announced their engagement in 2021.
- They had a London wedding in April 2023.
- Shortly after, Jamie and Sophie flew to Spain to get married at the Marbella Club surrounded by 200 guests.
- In June 2025, the happy couple announced they were expecting their first child together.
- In December 2025, Sophie gave birth to their son Ziggy.
