Vernon Kay may have hinted at his and Tess Daly’s bombshell separation just two weeks before it was announced on the pair’s respective Instagram pages on Friday night.
Daly, the outgoing co-presenter of Strictly Come Dancing, and BBC Radio 2 presenter Kay mutually shared a statement on social media stating that their 23-year marriage is over, declaring they have decided to “separate amicably”.
“This has not been an easy choice, but it comes from a place of mutual understanding and a shared desire for what is best for both of us,” Daly, 57, and Kay, 52, wrote. “We remain great friends and most importantly, fully committed to our roles as loving and supportive parents, which will always be our priority.”
While the news came as a shock to many observers, others have speculated that Daly and Kay had been hinting at their impending separation in interviews and across their social media pages in recent months.
Speaking to The Times on 27 April, for an interview all about family life, Kay repeatedly referenced Daly, but did suggest that the pair’s dynamic with their two children has recently evolved.
“Now that Phoebe is 21 and Amber is nearly 17, our relationship with them is changing,” Kay said. “We talk about encouraging them to leave the nest and be independent but we don’t really want them to.”
He also said that one of the key tenets of his and Daly’s parenting is making sure to have open and honest conversations with their children. “That’s one thing that Tess and I decided early on,” he explained. “We talked openly about everything from the moment we realised the girls could understand [the subject] … Communication is everything.”
The pair’s social media pages have also been largely devoid of coupled-up images over the last few months, with Daly last posting an image of herself and Kay in February, when the pair presented BBC One’s The One Show together – it was also the first time the pair had presented together in two decades.
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Kay, meanwhile, last posted an image of Daly to his Instagram in November, to congratulate her on receiving an MBE for services to broadcasting. “Since we met, your drive, dedication, focus and professionalism in how you work and live is a huge inspiration,” Kay captioned the picture.
Kay and Daly married in 2003, after meeting in 2001 while both were in the early days of their respective TV presenting careers. Their marriage infamously survived a sexting scandal in 2010, when Kay admitted to sending explicit sexual messages to five women. He said at the time that he had “let down” his family, adding: “Tess is extremely upset about this and we’re working through it.”
For Daly, news of her split comes just six months after she announced her departure from Strictly Come Dancing, which she has presented since 2004. Her co-host Claudia Winkleman also announced her exit from the show at the same time, with speculation rife on who will replace them.