James Haskell thought ex-wife Chloe Madeley ‘fancied’ dad Richard after date confusion

James Haskell has admitted that he didn’t know Chloe Madeley was related to her Good Morning Britain presenter dad when they first started dating.

So when he saw pictures of Richard Madeley on the wall at her home, the former rugby player assumed Chloe had a thing for the longtime TV presenter.

The former couple started dating in 2014 and tied the knot in 2018, before going their separate ways in 2023.

James has now reflected on their early days dating in the latest episode of the No Parental Guidance podcast, in which he spoke about how Chloe’s parents, Richard and Judy Finnigan, were ‘always really nice’ to him.

‘I didn’t know Chloe was their daughter until I went on a date with her and it was the first night we spent together,’ James said.

‘She took me back to her parents’ house, and I remember there was a picture of Richard on the wall. 

‘I thought, Chloe’s into a bit of kinky s***. I was like, I don’t look anything like that guy: he’s tall, dark and handsome and I was like, this isn’t going to last.’

Looking a little red-faced, the retired Wasps player added: ‘So I got back into bed and I was like, “Why have you got a picture of Richard Madeley on the wall?” and she was like, “He’s my dad” and I was like, “Right, okay”.’

In 2024, Chloe opened up about their split, saying how the last year of their marriage had been ‘dark and incredibly scary’.

The TV personality said: ‘When you tell people that you are divorcing, everyone sees it as such a negative thing. They say: “This is going to be so hard for you.” And, yes, it is, but the hardest bit was when we were married.

‘The last year of the marriage was awful. It was so dark, painful, and one of the worst periods of my life. It’s a good thing we ended it.’

James and Chloe share daughter Bodhi, who they said at the time of their split was their ‘sole focus’ and that they would be co-parenting ‘with nothing but love’.

Haskell has since taken a while at finding new love on Celebs Go Dating, where his mum Susie offered her no-holds-barred opinion of her former daughter-in-law. 

‘I’m not sure where he’s gone wrong because prior to his marriage, I met lots of lovely girlfriends,’ Susie said during a dinner party. ‘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.’