Vanessa Feltz spoke about her heartbreaking split from ex-fiancé Ben Ofoedu for the first time on This Morning on Wednesday morning as she said she has been left ‘humiliated’.
The 60-year-old presenter sat down with hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield at the start of the programme for a frank discussion on her devastating split.
Vanessa admitted the news that she and Phats & Small singer Ben, 50, had parted after 16 years was both a sudden shock and a ‘gradual thing’.
The TalkTV presenter went on to say that she has found enormous solace in the support she has received from others, since announcing the split on Instagram over the weekend.
“People have been amazing,” she said in the ITV studio. “Absolutely amazing and of course it helps a lot.
“I can’t sleep at all, so reading thousands and thousands of messages from lovely people on Instagram is something to do in the night.”
She added: “When you have to end a relationship it’s very hard. I’ve had what feels like millions of messages from so, so many people going through it.
“I wouldn’t want to minimise in any way what it’s like when you’re heartbroken. It’s horrible.”
Vanessa went on to say that she has taken comfort in assurances from those around her that she was not wrong to have trusted her long-time partner.
With tears in her eyes, she said: “I think it helps when people say you shouldn’t feel foolish for having faith in your own partner.
“You shouldn’t feel that you’ve done something stupid because you believed in somebody that you loved. That isn’t a ridiculous thing to do.
“Like I said, I feel sad. I feel hurt. I feel terribly humiliated. And lots of people have said you shouldn't, so I think that’s quite helpful. To believe in your own relationship isn’t stupid.”
The mum-of-two vowed she would not let the shock of the relationship breakdown consume her, she said: “I’m not alone and I’ve been through it before. It’s not like I'm a stranger to this stuff. I’ve already had a horrible divorce, but I'm absolutely not going to let it grind me down.”
Ben and Vanessa have been together since 2005 and make regular appearances together both on-screen and in magazines, but Vanessa revealed that they had broken up on Saturday in a short Instagram clip.
She said: "I had thought it might take a bit longer before this came out, because it’s a lot to deal with — a shock like this takes some adjusting to — but I am extremely sad and disappointed that my 16-year relationship with Ben is over."
Ben is thought to have now moved out of their £3.5million in St John’s Wood, North London.
The pair met in 2005, after Vanessa had divorced Michael Kurer five years earlier following cheating allegations.
