Ben Ofoedu has slammed ex-girlfriend Vanessa Feltz by claiming she stole the ‘best years of my life’ and used him as ‘eye candy.’
The Phats & Small singer, 51, told MailOnline he prefers being with his new girlfriend Precious Muir, 34, because the 10-year age gap between him and Vanessa, 61, ‘bred insecurity.’
It has been just over a year since Ben and Vanessa ended their 17-year relationship after the This Morning agony aunt accused him of being unfaithful. He later admitted that he had slept with one woman and shared inappropriate texts with another.
But since Vanessa went public Ben says he has been left ‘picking up the pieces’, with his ex ‘spinning a narrative to make me look like the bad guy’ when he felt he had also been mistreated.
Then along came Precious, who he says makes him feel like he’s 34 again, the same age he met former fiancée Vanessa, who he claimed never wanted to marry him.
Ben Ofoedu has slammed ex-girlfriend Vanessa Feltz by claiming she stole the ‘best years of my life’ and used him as ‘eye candy’ (pictured June 2021)
The Phats & Small singer told MailOnline he prefers being with his new girlfriend Precious Muir (pictured) because the 10-year age gap between him and Vanessa ‘bred insecurity’
It has been just over a year since Ben and Vanessa ended their 17-year relationship after the This Morning agony aunt accused him of being unfaithful (pictured October 2023)
Ben said: ‘I wasn’t very clever with my last relationship. I didn’t look at where the person was, and love was blinding me. I thought love conquers all but inevitably it doesn’t.
‘I gave myself to someone for a quarter of my life and ultimately I got nothing from it… it’s absolutely heartbreaking.
‘I met Vanessa when I was 34 and I lived 17 years in her life and it was all what she wanted.
‘So now I’m with Precious I feel 34 again and like I have got back my life. I have the same aspirations I had at 34.
‘I’m looking forward to a bright future, many more Valentine’s Days, living together and children… and these things are incredibly exciting for me.
‘Precious has made me feel like I have got my life back.’
Ben met Precious at a showbiz event, having snubbed the opportunity to find love on dating apps.
She is a model, movie producer and a reality star, who appeared in Channel 4 series The Circle.
Ben admitted that he had slept with one woman and shared inappropriate texts with another, telling the Sunday Mirror last year, ‘I betrayed the love of my life’ (pictured March 2022)
Precious is very aware of the public fallout between Ben and Vanessa but hasn’t delved too deep into the detail, according to the musician (pictured January 2024)
He says the pair ‘are on the same page’ and are honest with each other about their future and where they see the relationship going.
It’s a stark contrast to how he felt dating Vanessa, whom he believes only dated him for his looks and to make her feel young and hip.
He explained: ‘I was so in love but I felt like I was being strung along and she just wanted a bit of arm candy, whereas I wanted marriage and kids and real love.
‘For her, I felt I was just a convenience. I was a cooler, younger guy that gave her a youthful appearance.
‘A woman can take your best years of being 34, 35 and 36 and throughout your 40s and she’s saying he did this, and spinning a narrative to make me look like the bad guy, and I’m left picking up the pieces.’
Ben prefers being the older one in the relationship as he says it feels natural, and there’s less chance of his partner being insecure if they’re dating an older man.
Precious is very aware of the public fallout between Ben and Vanessa but hasn’t delved too deep into the detail, according to the musician.
Asked how he thinks Vanessa feels about his new relationship, Ben said: ‘I don’t think about her anymore
Ben prefers being the older one in the relationship as he says it feels natural, and there’s less chance of his partner being insecure if they’re dating an older man
Ben is still angry his ex-fiancée gave him false hope they would one day get hitched and she should have settled down with somebody else, rather than lead him on (pictured January 2024)
‘I no longer recognise her. I used to know everything that she thought and said but she turned out to be a completely different person.
‘I don’t care what she thinks about my new relationship.
‘I felt used and like I was a nice adornment to her life. Sometimes you have just got to move on. I am really, really happy that my sex life will no longer be all over the papers.’
The subject of marriage is a sensitive one for Ben, given how much he wanted to tie the knot with Vanessa while they were together.
And he’s still angry his ex-fiancée gave him false hope they would one day get hitched and she should have settled down with somebody else, rather than lead him along.
He said: ‘Before anything happened, 15 years had passed and then she became as bold as to say ‘I’m never going to marry you’ and I know she says she just doesn’t want to get married to the wrong person and it’s like who are you trying to kid?
‘It became very, very embarrassing doing interviews together and coming up with reasons why we weren’t married. She should have said she didn’t want to marry me.,’
Ben continued: ‘She will never get married, I could bet anyone a million pounds.
‘Instead of coming to someone like me who was young, in the prime of their life and leading me down the garden path, she should have gone for a property developer called John or something like that.’
MailOnline approached Vanessa for her reaction to Ben’s bombshell interview.
Her representative responded: ‘Vanessa says she was forced to end the relationship because the trust had been repeatedly destroyed.
‘She had hoped for a relationship of equals and was, and still is, a great believer in marriage to the right person.
‘Contrary to some reports, she feels relieved and liberated to be free of the relationship.
‘She would very much welcome the day that he and his associates stop using her name and giving interviews about her, having refrained from mentioning him even once since the split.’
