Chloe Madeley has revealed she and James Haskell attended couples therapy in a bid to save their marriage.
The personal trainer, 36, confessed on her ITV2 reality show, Chloe Madeley: A Family Affair, that their relationship came under intense strain during the Covid lockdowns in 2020 and they sought professional help.
Ultimately, their marriage could not be saved, with the couple announcing over the weekend they had decided to go their separate ways.
Speaking on the show – which was filmed a month before their split – Chloe reflected on their past struggles while they were filmed recording a podcast.
She explained: ‘We went through a really hard time in lockdown – our marriage was really quite tested’, which prompted James to quip ‘it’s not much better now!’
Candid: Chloe Madeley revealed in the fourth and final episode of her reality series that she and James Haskell attended couples therapy in a bid to save their marriage
Ups and downs: Speaking on the show – which was filmed a month before their split – Chloe reflected on their past struggles while they were filmed recording a podcast
Chloe joked back ‘I know, still in hell,’ before adding: ‘We did couple’s therapy at the time.
‘I think it was my way of easing my anxiety about the fact people thought we were an amazing couple, but we were a very tempestuous couple and we’d go through some really hard times.
‘I like that – I know it sounds silly – but I do think it’s important for people to be able to relate to what’s normal in a relationship, what’s not so normal, where the boundaries are…’
Earlier when discussing the decision to take part in the recording, she confessed: ‘I’m on the fence about doing a couple’s podcast with James because we aren’t these kind of happy, smiley, performy youngsters.
‘We’re always butting heads, not quite seeing eye to eye and it’s quite intimidating to let people hear that.
‘I like lifting the curtain like no, we are all struggling, relationships are hard. It’s nice to remind people relationships are hard work.’
Prior to filming the podcast together, Chloe had been left irked by the fact her husband wasn’t prepared.
She explained: ‘You’ve done what you love to do, you’ve said “here’s an idea that I really wanna do and I think it’s going to be amazing” now the day is here, you’ve done absolutely no prep for it.
‘I was up until 11.30 last night in bed writing treatments for the show.’
She added to the camera: ‘Classic. James has not prepared anything for the podcast he insisted we do so obviously it all falls down to me and I’m quite nervous about this now.’
Not impressed: Elsewhere in the episode, tensions flared as James claimed his wife was treating him ‘like a dog’ by shushing him when he spoke
The personal trainer revealed she had a work call to complete before filming the podcast and proceeded to open Zoom, while James kept talking to her in the background.
She told the camera: ‘When I’m trying to work and James is just talking, talking, talking – I’m just like not now – I have two methods – shush him and just keep shushing him until he gets annoyed and then just ignore him.’
James snapped back: ‘You’re just going to invade my space while I’m having breakfast. It’s a bit like your own podcast, bit all over the place, bit scatty, not very interesting.’
As Chloe continued to shush him it then cut back to her talking to camera as she explained: ‘If James is contributing anything of value I wouldn’t shush him but he’s contributing s**t banter on a work call that isn’t appropriate and he needs to pipe down!’
Having stormed out of the room, James proceeded to moan: ‘She shushes me like I’m a dog or like I’m a baby. I’m like “shush me again and that’s the last thing you’ll ever do.”‘
Chloe went on to explain: ‘The difficulty in mine and James’ relationship comes from the fact that both of us think we’re in charge.
‘The relationships that I know are very calm and tranquil there’s a dominant and there’s a submissive.
‘James and I are both dominant so obviously it’s like World War Three.’
The scenes were filmed a month before Chloe and James separated, with the couple formally announcing their split last weekend with a joint statement.
The couple, who married in 2018, had fuelled speculation about their relationship after the personal trainer emerged without her wedding ring as she partied with friends – shortly after the former rugby player was pictured chatting to a mystery blonde outside a London nightspot.
In a joint update shared to Instagram, they announced: ‘Chloe and I mutually decided separate at the end of September, 2023.
‘We had not planned on releasing a statement at this time – certainly not while the television show was airing – but constant speculation about our marriage has, unfortunately, forced our hand.
‘Beyond this statement, we will not be speaking about this matter publicly, and we would request privacy at this time.
‘Our sole focus now is our beautiful daughter. We shall continue to co-parent with nothing but love.’
Over: The scenes were filmed a month before Chloe and James separated, with the couple formally announcing their split last weekend with a joint statement
Sharing his own statement to Instagram, James added: ‘It’s with a lot of sadness I write this post, but unfortunately, in the world we live in, it has to be done.
‘My priority is my daughter’s and Chloe’s happiness and security. For that reason, I won’t be commenting any further.’
A source told MailOnline: ‘James is still living at the family home in London, he arrived back on Monday and was still there yesterday morning.’
One friend of the couple added: ‘It is all so weird, and it all seems rather rum that Chloe did a round of interviews and talked very openly about her life and the marriage but she failed to say that she and James had split despite her television show being all about her family life.’