Bobby Falls Out with Dad: New Twist in Brazier Sons Feud

With his cherubic looks, curly hair and broad smile it’s little wonder Bobby Brazier was such a hit on Strictly. Indeed, thanks to his distinct similarity to both Harry Styles and Sir Mick Jagger, Bobby captivated both young women and older female fans.

Add to this his dancing talent and tragic back story as son of the late, much-loved reality TV phenomenon Jade Goody, and it’s easy to see why Bobby’s star was sent to the stratosphere after he reached the show’s final.

Imagine the surprise, then, for any fan of his who happens to walk past Soho’s Hare Krishna HQ. Because there, they will see the actor immersing himself in daily spiritual rituals, chanting mantras, preparing communal meals and enjoying the religion’s peaceful outlook.

I can reveal that Bobby, 22, has turned to the organisation – which follows a branch of the Hindu faith – after relations became strained between him and his father, TV presenter Jeff.

So difficult did things become between the pair that Bobby moved out of Jeff’s Essex home into his own Soho apartment, which is near to the Hare Krishna temple.

Jeff, resident parental expert on ITV’s This Morning, had cheered on his son for all his worth every week at Strictly. He also told Strictly viewers how strong their relationship was. But in truth, communication between the two is scant.

This, for Jeff, must be heartbreaking – especially when one considers that only last week his youngest son Freddy gave me an exclusive interview, telling of his own bitter fall-out with his father.

It’s little wonder Bobby Brazier was such a hit on Strictly

Freddy’s difficulties with his father were apparently heightened when he tried to deepen his relationship with his grandmother, Jade’s mum Jackiey Budden.

Today, Freddy, who starred with his dad on BBC1 show Celebrity Race Across The World, lives with his grandmother, despite his father’s objections.

The 20-year-old also admitted to smoking cannabis with his grandmother, which will surely have troubled Jeff.

While Freddy’s rebellion is public, noisy and erratic, Bobby’s is the polar opposite – yet perhaps no less hurtful for his father. Friends have revealed to me that Bobby, although no wild child, is just as happy to push away his relatives as Freddy.

Those relatives include Jeff’s wife Kate Dwyer – who both boys have had ‘ups and downs’ with, according to those who know the family. And while Bobby may not be trading insults with his dad publicly, like his younger brother, he is also seeking to distance himself from Jeff, who Freddy accused of being controlling.

A source close to the family said: ‘Bobby’s always had a spiritual side, but this is intentional. It’s clear he’s trying to leave all the fighting and noise behind. ‘Freddy’s rebellion is loud – drugs, public slanging matches and legal battles about his nana – while Bobby’s is quiet. But actually it’s just as defiant.

‘He’s turning his back on the life his Dad created for them in Essex and following his own path.’

Bobby’s Hare Krishna practice appears to be no fad. A volunteer says: ‘He’s here every Saturday without fail, he joins our kitchen session, learns the prayers – this isn’t a gimmick.’

One viral video posted by devotees captures him in mid-chant, gleaming with devotion – an image that has drawn hundreds of messages of support but baffled some of his immediate family. ‘Bobby had a difficult life,’ said a family friend. ‘His mum dying left a mark on him, as it would. Hare Krishna is somewhere he seeks solace. It might seem strange, but for him, it works.’

The Brazier boys had the saddest start in life when their mother died of cervical cancer in 2009. Bobby was just five, Freddy, four. Jeff had split from Jade shortly after Freddy was born.

Following her passing, Jeff – then a host on X Factor spin-off show, the Xtra Factor – requested privacy for the boys while they grew up in Essex, before later spending time in Brighton.

Bobby Brazier dancing at a Hare Krishna festival in Watford

Bobby Brazier with TV presenter father Jeff Brazier

He vowed to give them a stable home and rightly won much praise from the public for doing so. Both boys attended private school. Struggling to settle in, Bobby was suspended from his – and it was when he was summoned to the family’s local Costa coffee shop for a pep talk by Jeff that his model looks were noticed by a casting agent who happened to be there.

‘At private school, everyone comes from the same generationally rich families, but my parents didn’t,’ said Bobby of his unhappy school days.

‘I’ve got insight from both ends of the spectrum, so I felt like I was a bit of a black sheep.’

His chance meeting with the agent led to him signing for a modelling agency at 16 – launching a career that saw him walk the catwalk for Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger and others across Milan, London and Paris.

He later joined EastEnders where he played Freddie Slater and in 2023 won the ‘rising star’ prize at the National Television Awards – but it was announced last week that he is leaving the show in search of more freedom over his career.

His work ethic is to be celebrated, especially as – I can reveal – within just a few years, he will receive the money Jade left him in her will, some £250,000.

A spokesman for the trust explained to The Mail: ‘Everything was agreed before Jade passed away – there have been payments for agreed education or healthcare, but no other withdrawals until the boys turn 25.’

The spokesman added: ‘Even years after she passed, Jade has been able to provide for them, which is what she always wanted.’

One thing she certainly wouldn’t have wanted, though, was for her sons to fall out.

Bobby Brazier (left) with his mother Jade Goody and brother Freddie in 2006

Last week, Freddy told the Mail of a growing distance between the family and Bobby. Get togethers are rare, though Bobby and Jeff did meet for his recent 22nd birthday on June 2.

Freddy didn’t join them though. Instead their communication on the day was a mere text to his sibling. ‘There is a sizeable wedge between Bobby and Freddy,’ says the family source.

‘It would have devastated Jade if she was to know.’

The source said Bobby was ‘deeply upset’ that Freddy did not join them on his birthday.

Insiders suggest that reconciliation between the brothers may only come once Freddy agrees to make changes to his chaotic life.

One friend notes: ‘Bobby won’t say it, but he’s disappointed in Freddy. He wants a relationship, but it needs to be healthier.

‘If he has to stay in his own lane away from the wider family, he’s completely prepared to.’