Vanessa Feltz has addressed her split from former partner Ben Ofoedu, as she appeared on the first episode of the new Celebs Go Dating series on Sunday night (20 August).
In February, the 61-year-old TV presenter announced to her Instagram followers that her 16-year relationship with the Phats & Small singer, 51, had come to an end after multiple allegations emerged that he had cheated on her.
Speaking to the Mirror about the breakup at the time, Feltz said: “I’ve been so hurt, crushed and dismayed, and worried about the future.”
However, Feltz, who is known for hosting an agony aunt segment on This Morning, opened up about her relationship with Ofoedu in the new series of Celebs Go Dating, telling viewers that she hadn’t been on a date in 17 years.
“I’ve been single for exactly 20 weeks, five weeks and about eight hours…. I’m not counting or anything,” she said.
Addressing her recent breakup, Feltz told the camera: “Once the trust in a relationship has been thoroughly nuked, you really can’t get it back again even if you try and I did try.”
“I never wanted single life, is the truth, I don’t like it and I fear it.”
“I want someone who is worth investing your time – and ultimately your badly broken heart – in.”
During the episode, Feltz attended a mixer with other celebrities including Love Island’s Adam Collard, Made In Chelsea’s Mark Francis and Kate Moss’s half-sister Lottie Moss.
Speaking to Josie Gibson and Andi Peters on This Morning, Feltz said that when a date doesn’t go well it is like “wading through treacle” and added that “dating is damn difficult”.
However, she added that she was remaining hopeful.
“When you meet someone, it can be really easy, it can be really easy… that’s bliss. It’s just a question of a numbers game… [you’ve got to] keep on somehow.”
When she announced her and Ofoedu’s split, Feltz shared the news via a video on Instagram and said she felt “incredibly sad and pretty disappointed and shocked”.
She added: “I am not going to let this defeat me… I am very, very grateful to be alive and I want to carry on feeling that way and I want to celebrate and find fun and laughter anywhere I can.
“I know it is not going to be easy but I am absolutely determined to do it.”
Ofoedu later admitted to the Sunday Mirror that he had “broken her trust” and had sex three times with another woman after meeting her while on tour with his band, Phats & Small.
Ben Ofoedu and Vanessa Feltz attend the Pride Of Britain Awards in 2021— (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
The singer claimed that the woman contacted Feltz to expose their affair after he wanted to end it. After working through it, Feltz “forgave” Ofoedu, but he admitted to sexting another woman in 2022 after meeting her through Instagram.
He also admitted to “flirting inappropriately” with a third woman while playing a show in Skegness in December that year.
“My last conversation with Vanessa was me saying how wonderful she was, how she was the love of my life, and saying how much I loved her and that I’m so, so sorry it’s happened,” he told the publication. “‘Please find it in your heart to forgive me.’ Those were the last words I said.”
Feltz, who took three weeks off social media before announcing her and Ofoedu’s split, said during an appearance on This Morning that she “had to end” the relationship.
Feltz and Ofoedu first met in 2005 after her divorce from Michael Kurer five years before. The pair got engaged a year later and remained engaged until their split.
The presenter has two children, Allegra Kurer, 37, and Saskia Kurer, 34, from her previous marriage.
Celebs Go Dating airs on Monday to Thursday on E4 at 9pm.w
