James Haskell’s wife, Chloe Madeley, described their final year of marriage as ‘dark and painful’.
Now, the former England rugby star has admitted his love of boozing contributed to the demise of their union.
‘If I put more time into my marriage than I did Guinness, then I wouldn’t be divorced now,’ Haskell says.
The former flanker, 40, is a close friend of his fellow The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast host Mike Tindall, who is married to Princess Anne’s daughter Zara.
Haskell and Chloe, 37, the daughter of television presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, separated in 2023 after five years of marriage. Their daughter, Bodhi, was aged just one at the time.
Speaking at the Pub in the Park festival in west London, Haskell says he now has a much better relationship with Chloe.
‘It’s one of those things in life where some things don’t work out, but I have so much love for my daughter and Chloe,’ he tells me. ‘It’s team work.’
He adds: ‘What we all forget is when you have children and a marriage finishes, it’s all about the kids. Chloe and I are amazing co-parents. Our priority is always Bodhi.’
Haskell and Chloe, 37, the daughter of television presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, separated in 2023 after five years of marriage
Haskell says he now has a much better relationship with Chloe
His appearance at the three-day touring food and music festival was tinged with sadness due to the death of his father, Jonathan, who died at the weekend after a prolonged illness.
‘We’ve lost the key cornerstone of our family, it’s a very emotional, difficult time,’ Haskell says. ‘He was an amazing man. He always encouraged me to work. Every time I said to him, “Shall I take a day off?” he would rather I worked.’
Haskell says he’s now single after dating advertising executive Helen Barclay at the start of the year.
‘I don’t really date,’ he says. ‘My priority is not that at the moment. I don’t need anyone. I’m very happy and comfortable. My focus is, obviously, saying goodbye to my dad, work, and being the best dad in the best order.’
Lipkin’s Georgina is ‘perfect’ to him
Simon Lipkin and Georgina Castle attend The Olivier Awards 2025
Simon Lipkin has earned rave reviews – and an Oliviers nod – for his spirited turn as Fagin in West End musical Oliver!
But he says his greatest coup was winning the heart of his fiancee, Georgina Castle, 32.
Although the daughter of tennis ace Andrew Castle accepted his proposal last year, Lipkin, 39, admits he’s baffled by his match with the actress (pictured), whom he met while starring in the stage show Elf.
‘She’s perfect – I’m punching [above my weight],’ he says.
‘Her exes are a collection of Adonises… multi-millionaires, washboard-abbed models – then this chubby little boy turns up.’
Having become the first female artistic director of London’s Royal Court Theatre, Vicky Featherstone, 58, is a formidable force. But she was powerless when a cast member got confused during a show.
The actress, she explains, ‘doubled as a buttoned-up Edinburgh lady and a stripper’. She recalls: ‘During our first preview, she got the scenes mixed up and came on dressed as the stripper when she was meant to be the Edinburgh woman. There was nothing I could do.’
Sarah’s invite must be lost in the post!
Who knew that parties could be such a battlefield? Prominent figures from politics and media were surprised to receive invitations at the weekend from Samantha Cameron’s sister, Emily Sheffield, to a summer party later this month.
It just so happened to be at the same time as the celebration to launch Sarah Vine’s book, How Not To Be A Political Wife. And many of the guests are invited to both.
Coincidence? Some guests think not. The book by my esteemed colleague Sarah details how she was ditched as a loyal friend of many years by the Camerons after her then husband, Michael Gove, backed Brexit. Sarah says of Sheffield’s bash: ‘My invitation must have been lost in the post.’
Vinnie’s gate plans get the red card
It’s a brave man, or woman, who says no to footballer-turned-Hollywood-hardman Vinnie Jones.
But that’s just what happened when the actor, 60, tried to build new entrance gates at his West Sussex farm.
He needed planning permission for the black metal barrier because his 18th century house, featured on TV show Vinnie Jones In the Country, is Grade II listed.
But the South Downs National Park Authority criticised the ‘uncharacteristic urban feature’.
Planning officer Beverley Stubbington said the recommendation would be for refusal before Jones then scrapped the plans.
Keira’s companies making her millions
Keira Knightley has previously said that living an expensive lifestyle is alienating
Keira Knightley, who in 2014 said she gave herself a yearly salary of £30,000 to stop her losing touch with her less affluent friends, should award herself a pay rise.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean star’s treasure chest is bursting. New accounts show £7.1 million in profits at the 40-year-old actress’s company Ponder Rights, including £411,000 earned in 2024. Its riches sit alongside £9.7 million held in performing arts company KCK Boo, as well as £7.8 million worth of properties held in nominee company Charlotte Road. That’s a total of almost £25 million.
Explaining her frugality, Keira said: ‘Living an [expensive] lifestyle means you can’t hang out with people who don’t live that lifestyle. It alienates you.’
Felicity to reunite with Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard’s ex-wife, Miriam, has confessed that the playwright’s affair with The Good Life star Felicity Kendal plunged her into three years of mourning.
Now, Ms Kendal and the Oscar winner are to work together again after 27 years. The actress, 78, is to star in Sir Tom’s play Indian Ink at Hampstead Theatre in London. She will perform a different role to that created for her in the 1990s.
Miriam had been married to Sir Tom, 87, for 20 years when he fell for his leading lady. Ms Kendal was married to US theatre director Michael Rudman at the time. Sir Tom is now married to King Charles’s ex Sabrina Guinness.
