Jermaine Jenas' wife breaks silence on 'incredibly hard time' after presenter's sexting scandal
Former BBC presenter Jermaine Jenas' wife, Ellie, made her first public appearance since he was sacked by the BBC. Jermaine - who was a fixture on The One Show and as Match of the Day analyst - had his BBC contract ended, following accusations that he sent unsolicited inappropriate messages to a female staff member.
Appearing at the launch of her personal care brand Preppy, a specialist range for children and teens, today (November 19), Ellie - who noticeably wasn't wearing her wedding ring, according to The Sun - spoke about having an "incredibly hard time". She explained: “It has been an incredibly hard and difficult time for myself and my family. My only focus has been on our children and building my brand Preppy.
“Now I just want to move forward. Naturally this has been hard for me but my only concern has been our children and that will not change.”
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Speaking at the launch in London, Ellie - who was joined by two of the couple’s three children - added: “I have been working on this brand for three years and it is something I am incredibly proud of.”
According to the outlet, the former model said she did not wish to discuss her 13-year-marriage to Jermaine but noted that the Newcastle United star had been supportive of her decision to create the brand. Ellie and Jermaine tied the knot in 2011 and are parents to two daughters and a son but 41 year old Jermaine was dismissed by the BBC in August following a scandal involving inappropriate texts to female colleagues. A spokesperson said at the time: "We can confirm that he is no longer part of our presenting line up."
A BBC investigation reportedly began when a female colleague is said to have complained about Jermaine's text messages to her, leading to his quick dismissal from the broadcaster, with Jermaine later admitting he was 'ashamed' over the behaviour. The scandal was heightened as Jermaine admitted to hiding these actions from his wife, Ellie.
The presenter did, however, post a video on Instagram addressing the situation and thanking fans for their support, hinting at plans for a return to broadcasting soon. He shared: "There's some exciting stuff that I've been working on. So hopefully you'll have that to look forward to very soon. And hopefully I'll be back just talking about what I love really, which is football. I've been living the life of those Spurs fans who've been up and down and up and down."
He continued, "Forest got a great result up at Anfield and have been playing well. So I've been watching but I'm looking forward to kind of getting back and just talking about what I love most. So last of all, thank you very much and, yeah, I'll see you soon."
