TV and radio host Vanessa Feltz has dumped her fiancé amid suspicions of him cheating on her with several women.
TalkTV favourite Vanessa, 60, spoke of her “shock” and “heartbreak” over 50-year-old Phats & Small singer Ben Ofoedu’s suspected infidelity.
As one of the most recognisable couples in showbiz, having regularly appeared together on screen and in magazines during their 16-year relationship, their break-up will come as a huge shock.
Amid a string of allegations that Ben repeatedly cheated with a number of women, Vanessa was horrified to discover his “double life”
It is understood the presenter and agony aunt, who recently launched a new show on talkTV after many years with the BBC, discovered a trail of emails and social media messages leading her to uncover several infidelities, but she fears there could be many more.
From tongue scraping to saying no, here are 12 health trends to try in 2023
Vanessa was shocked as The Sun on Sunday approached her for a comment last night.
She confirmed she has left Ben over his behaviour and admitted she is devastated, but declared: “Onwards and upwards.”
He has now moved out of their £3.5million home in St John’s Wood, North London.
Vanessa told The Sun on Sunday: “I had thought it might take a bit longer before this came out, because it’s a lot to deal with — a shock like this takes some adjusting to — but I am extremely sad and disappointed that my 16-year relationship with Ben is over.
“As an agony aunt I have said many times that once the trust in a relationship is gone, it can never be repaired or regained.
“So I have to take my own advice on this occasion.
“Who knew I’d be single at 60? However, ladies, it’s onwards and upwards and I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.”
She added: “I hear that Kylie Minogue is single again, so I’m in good company — if she wants to hit the town, hook me up.”
Vanessa met Ben in 2005, having divorced in 2000 from surgeon Michael Kurer following allegations of cheating.
But sources reckon it was Nineties electro-dance group Phats & Small’s return to performing, as a nostalgic act touring holiday parks, that appears to have enabled the worst of Ben’s infidelity.
How to de-clutter if you have a beauty stash to last you a lifetime
Now, pals say Vanessa, who has daughters Allegra, 37, and Saskia, 34, with her ex-husband, is determined to take control of her own future and will not be defeated.
A friend of the couple said of her split with Ben: “He has cheated copiously, all over the place, exposing her to all sorts.
"It’s pretty horrifying for her and her friends to think about, but she’s a strong, successful woman who will not be beaten by his disgraceful behaviour.
“Of course she is heartbroken, ashamed, devastated — but she’s proud too.
“The most appalling thing is that he has probably taken advantage of how hard she works, to facilitate his cheating.
“She recently launched a show on talkTV which has been taking up a lot of time, so she has been out of the house earning money while he has been disrespecting her.”
She fears Ben used trips to holiday parks to party until the early hours and meet women.
It recently emerged Phats & Small had clashed with organisers of one concert over their unruly behaviour at the venue — fuelled by a night of boozing.
The pal added: “Nobody really knows how many women there have been, or who they were, but it seems as though there has been a lot who she simply didn’t know — a total double life of lies.
“He used his band to give himself a foil for going around drinking and sleeping with younger women.
“It doesn’t sound as though he is even that sorry.”
Vanessa has had more ups and downs than most when it comes to relationships.
She married Michael Kurer in 1983, only for that to collapse 17 years later.
The divorce left her reeling and Vanessa later admitted it made her “wary of getting married again”.
Last year she told the How To Fail podcast how her heart had felt physically broken and she begged her husband not to leave her and their daughters, even clinging on in desperation to the wheels of his car to stop him driving away.
In the candid chat, she said: “I don’t need to give you all of the details, but effectively I put my arms around the wheels and said, ‘Please don’t drive away, please don’t leave us.’
‘Sob or scream’
“I remember getting home from a wedding with him and thought he was getting ready for bed.
“The next thing I saw, he was getting dressed and packing a case and said, ‘I’m leaving’. I didn’t understand what I’d done wrong.”
She later discovered that he had allegedly cheated on her.
Following her divorce, Vanessa then met younger man Ben.
The pair were introduced by Keith Duffy from Boyzone and the romance soon ramped up, as a year later they got engaged.
Vanessa affectionately nicknamed her man “Young Beezy”, while he gave her the lovey-dovey moniker “Young Veezy”.
But last month Vanessa admitted of their relationship: “Don’t let anyone tell you that the age gap doesn’t matter.
“It’s bloody annoying and it gets worse, especially as our relationship coincided with acres of menopause, which started on my very first day presenting the Radio 2 breakfast show in 2011 with a massive hot flush at 4am and is still going on.”
Vanessa described Ben as being “absurdly handsome”, “amazingly charismatic” and a “fabulous grandpa” — and hinted at their active, X-rated sex life.
But she has also been searingly honest about her struggles with the menopause.
She has said: “It’s been non-stop hurly-burly at the door, in the car, on the chaise longue, when all I really wanted was to melt or sob or scream.”
Vanessa previously also claimed there has “never been a fallow period” in her relationship and has described sex as one of life’s greatest pleasures.
She has also said she would “never say never” to tying the knot again.
Ben was contacted for comment last night.
