Vanessa Feltz‘s ex-fiancé Ben Ofoedu has split from girlfriend Precious Muir, MailOnline can reveal.
The couple have decided to end their year-long romance over a heartbreaking clash they struggled to see past.
Former Phats & Small singer Ben, 52, started dating TV presenter Precious, 40, following his breakup from Vanessa, 62, who he was in a relationship with for 16 years.
He expressed wanting to start a family with the This Morning agony aunt, previously telling MailOnline he longed for a wife and children, saying: ‘I gave myself to someone for a quarter of my life and ultimately I got nothing from it… it’s absolutely heartbreaking.’
And now he feared history repeating itself as Precious isn’t ready for a baby or to settle down, with the pair coming to the painful realisation it’s better for them to go their separate ways.
Ben vows to maintain a close friendship with Precious, who he says came into his life at a time when he needed ‘love’ and ‘support’ and he found a ‘beautiful’, ‘nonjudgemental’ partner in the former model.
He said: ‘I could always see a future with Precious because we connect so well, laugh so much and enjoy one another.
‘However, with both our schedules being so manic and life moving so fast we have decided to part ways romantically but hold onto our friendship.’
Vanessa Feltz ‘s ex-fiancé Ben Ofoedu has split from girlfriend Precious Muir, MailOnline can reveal (pictured June 2024)
Former Phats & Small singer Ben started dating TV presenter Precious following his breakup from Vanessa, who he was in a relationship with for 17 years (pictured August 2021)
Ben vows to maintain a close friendship with Precious, who he says came into his life at a time when he needed ‘support’ and he found a ‘beautiful’, ‘nonjudgemental’ partner in the ex model
Precious added: ‘Ben needs a partner who can settle down right now and have children sooner rather than later. Due to our age difference, for me, I would like to wait a bit longer, perhaps within five years’ time, who knows.’
She continued: ‘There is nothing worse than misleading someone once you know how you feel about something like this and know how important it is to the other person.
‘I will always love him to pieces and wish the best for him. He’s a good man and has only treated me like a princess.’
The couple spoke fondly of their year together after meeting at a London Fashion Week event last September, saying they regularly made each other laugh.
Precious said: ‘We talk about everything and always encourage each other that’s why it’s so hard to separate but we both know we can’t have the relationship we used to have.’
They admitted to feeling overwhelmed by their romance being under scrutiny, with Precious adding: ‘The pressure of expectations on our public relationship made things very difficult.’
The couple also feels their busy work schedules have prevented them from moving forward as Ben is about to tour with Elf the Musical and will begin next year performing on a P&O cruise.
Ben added: ‘To be truly romantically involved with someone it deserves time and due to the nature of our work, this is something we both cannot give at this very moment.’
The couple spoke fondly of their year together after meeting at a London Fashion Week event last September, saying they regularly made each other laugh (pictured January 2024)
They admitted to feeling overwhelmed by their romance being under scrutiny, with Precious adding: ‘The pressure of expectations on our public relationship made things very difficult’ (pictured September 2024)
The singer’s relationship with Vanessa ended after he admitted to cheating on the radio host, bedding another woman and sharing inappropriate messages with another (pictured September 2021)
The musician’s relationship with Precious came after he admitted to cheating on Vanessa, bedding another woman and sharing inappropriate messages with another.
Their 16-year romance collapsed in 2023 when reports of Ben’s infidelity were leaked to the press.
Vanessa, who was previously married and shares grownup daughters Allegra, 38, and Saskia, 35, with ex-husband Michael Kurer, has spoken in-depth about the heartache she suffered after discovering Ben had betrayed her.
Speaking on This Morning following the couple’s split, Vanessa said: ‘I feel sad, I feel hurt, which I do and I feel terribly humiliated and lots of people have said, you shouldn’t. It was a terrible shock but also a gradual thing, it was a mixture of the two.
‘I don’t want to dwell on anything or any of the details, I really do want to focus on the future and telling myself there will be a future.’
This year, she released autobiography Vanessa Bares All and during promotional interviews for the book, branded her relationship with Ben a ‘huge waste of time.’
Instead of calling Ben by his name in the text, she referred to him as ‘the One Hit Wonder’ in reference to his 1999 track Turn Around.
