Vanessa Feltz kept her ex Ben Ofoedu's secret closely guarded after he slept with an older woman in Ibiza – while she remained at home.
The television star has opened up about their dramatic split after their 17-year relationship came to an end due to infidelity.
But Ben, 50, has spoken candidly about the start of the breakdown of their romance which occurred after he slept with a woman while on holiday in Ibiza.
The singer explained to The Sunday Mirror that he slept with an older woman on three occasions, describing it as a "chore" but Vanessa later forgave his cheating ways.
He said: "I've broken her trust, she gave me another chance, I've gone and destroyed that."
Meeting through mutual friends in 2001, the pair began dating in 2005 and were engaged the following year.
Initially facing scrutiny for their 10-year age gap, the couple hated Ben’s toyboy tag. But they didn’t let it stop their romance from blossoming, with Vanessa often talking about their perfect union and active sex life.
But behind closed doors, Ben - who rose to fame thanks to hit Turn Around in 1999 - says things soured after Vanessa discovered he’d cheated - a fact he says they didn’t share with anyone for years.
Detailing the dalliance in Ibiza while he was performing on the Spanish island in 2015, Ben told: “I met her on the gig scene. She was the same age as Vanessa, possibly older. She took a shine to me, said lots of nice things.
“Over a short period of time we had sex three times. It was purely sexual, there were no feelings involved. It felt like a chore. I just fell back into it with her to keep her sweet and everything under wraps.”
Ben tells how the woman, who was involved in the music scene and lived in Ibiza, wanted to pursue their relationship further - but he put a stop to it.
His jilted lover then contacted Vanessa eight months later to confess all about their affair.
“I stopped it and the person hated that and kept on at me,” Ben explained. “Then she contacted Vanessa and we had to deal with it. No one knew but I moved out for a little while. We worked it out. She forgave me. It took her a lot to do that. I knew how hurt she was. I felt absolutely terrible.”
The couple spent the subsequent years trying to rebuild their relationship while the outside world had no idea about what had gone on.
