It’s not the typical dynamic after a divorce, but Chloe Madeley is determined to help her rugby star ex-husband James Haskell move on and meet a new girlfriend.
“Chloe wants him to find a new woman and encouraged him to take part in Celebs Go Dating,” a source tells new . “She’s been there for him – because if he’s working, it helps the family. She wants him to do really well on the show.”
Despite once being blissfully happy together, Chloe, 38, and James, 41, confirmed their marriage was over in 2023 after nearly a decade together. The shock news came right after they had appeared on their own ITV reality show, Chloe Madeley: A Family Affair.
4View 4 ImagesJames remains on great terms with Chloe
4View 4 ImagesChloe opened up about their split recently
Now starring in E4’s Celebs Go Dating, ex rugby player-turned-DJ James has admitted that Chloe – daughter of TV presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan – played a major part in urging him to sign up to the show. “I was on the fence, and she encouraged me to go for it,” he said. “She’s a good friend and my co-parent, and we’re very transparent with each other. I feel lucky to have that support, it makes everything feel collaborative, and it’s a relationship I truly value.”
But while James remains on great terms with Chloe, his mum Susie sparked fresh tension after seemingly hitting out at her ex-daughter-in-law on the show. Speaking to the cameras before Susie’s outburst, James told producers, “Mum is an absolute loose cannon at the best of times. I am dreading what’s going to come out of her mouth. As long as she does not upset my ex.”
His fears came true at a televised dinner party in which Susie shared some less-than-favourable thoughts about her son’s turbulent love life. “I’m not sure where he’s gone wrong because prior to his marriage, I met lots of lovely girlfriends,” she said.
“Each of them just loved me, which is a bonus. I do have quite a strong opinion on why I think it went wrong. You can’t have two stars because you have them competing for the floor space the whole time.”
Insisting that James has always been “extremely popular”, Susie continued, “He needs someone who can see the softness of him, coupled with quite a brilliant intellect.”
Our source says Chloe was horrified by the barbed comments. “She’s embarrassed and thinks it’s unnecessary,” says the friend. “She’s been trying to protect the family from what really went on, and just thinks it was really unnecessary to say those things.
“James and his mum are strong-minded characters and she’s very protective of her son. But Chloe is really upset about it, and so are her mum and dad, especially because everyone’s talking about it. She didn’t think his mum would stoop so low, but she definitely doesn’t want to start a war of words.”
Taking to Instagram Stories after the episode, Chloe reshared a post which read, “Does anyone else feel like there are just some people in life who you have to follow around with a dustpan and brush so you can sweep up all the crap they keep dropping on the floor? Orrrr is that just me? Honestly if you’re reading this and you can’t relate you’re probably a crap dropper.”
James has gone on several dates during Celebs Go Dating, but has remained loyal to Chloe, saying he wants their three-year-old daughter Bodhi to know “how much I respect her”. James also said of his ex, “She’s a proper badass. Everything I fell in love with in her – her intelligence, her strength – is what I still look for in people.”
The pair married in Berkshire in 2018 after four years of dating, with James proposing in Paris. They welcomed their daughter in August 2022, with Chloe enduring a traumatic emergency C-section after Bodhi’s heart rate plummeted several times. “I’d let them cut me open every week just to get her again,” she said at the time, while calling James “utterly incredible, just the dream partner”.
When they split the following year, they insisted it was mutual and their sole focus was on co-parenting Bodhi. However, Chloe later called the last year of their marriage “awful”. She added, “It was one of the worst periods of my life… I’m amazed I got through it in the way that I did.”
View 4 ImagesChloe wants James to find a new woman and encouraged him to take part in Celebs Go Dating
Celebs Go Dating’s relationship guru Anna Williamson asked James if he was ever unfaithful to Chloe, to which he replied, “No, no, not at all.” But he admitted he was not always fully supportive of his wife, saying, “My sporting career was very selfish, lots of travel, lots of work, and then I switched to being a DJ and travel and work with that, and I probably needed to be more there for Chloe.”
In a recent episode of the No Parental Guidance podcast, Chloe also opened up about their split. She called it “the worst breakup imaginable”, but also stressed, “We’ve managed to co-parent respectfully throughout all the trauma – and it was a lot.”
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She added, “We’ve managed to come out the other side, very surprisingly to me more than anyone, having formed a completely new bond and a new friendship. It’s very loving and respectful as parents of children, and I would call him one of my closest friends now.”