Ben Foden admits he was ‘not very respectful’ to his ex Una Healy after marrying his wife the morning he was granted a divorce

BEN Foden has admitted that he was “not very respectful” to his ex Una Healy after marrying his second wife, Jackie, on the day their divorce was finalized.

The 35-year-old rugby heartthrob married Jackie Belanoff Smith aboard a yacht in the US last August, a year after separating from his wife of six years.

6

And the former England international admits he could have handled things better.

In an interview with Sharon Carpenter on Instagram Live, he said: “I put my hands up and say it was wrong. My final decree wasn’t even enforced until the morning we got married.

“People will say that I was not very respectful in what I did, marrying Jackie very quickly, but you cannot help the heart and we have overcome it.”

The absolute decree is the final stage of the divorce process and is necessary for a person to be able to remarry.

6

Ben has two children, Aoife, eight, and Tadhg, five, with Saturday’s singer Una.

Their marriage ended in 2018 after Ben cheated on her with 28-year-old public relations girl Becky Milne.

In the months that followed, Ben turned to dating apps and seemed to have no trouble finding matches.

He said: “I went out a lot. I went a little crazy for about six or seven months with some of the most popular apps. I had a lot of fun.

“When I first met Jackie, she was like no one I’d met before in so many departments. She’s very independent, very free of spirit.

“She was at a point where she was like, ‘I want to meet someone and get married and have kids.’ Even though in my head I was like, ‘Oh, I really don’t want to do that.’ .

“I knew that she would be very kind and respectful to my other children from my other marriage.”

The couple went on to have a daughter Farrah, who was born in May.

Last week, Una opened up to Fabulous about the challenging time in her personal life.

6

“Divorce is a difficult thing to go through,” he said. “You don’t walk down the hall expecting this to happen. You hope it is forever and you do not marry any other intention.

“And when it doesn’t work, it’s devastating. Totally devastating.

“So that was quite difficult, but last summer when he got married again, it was a huge shock to me. I was like, ‘Woah, what is this?’

“It was something else I had to understand. But life goes on, doesn’t it?

“It just moves faster for some than others, obviously!”

She was honest about the hardships Ben’s move to the United States has caused, especially considering the past six months: keeping the show on the road unaided during a pandemic and lockdown, juggling homeschooling. , a career and managing a home has been nothing. picnic.

6

When the restrictions eased and Aoife and Tadhg flew to the United States to spend a few weeks with Ben and Jackie and their new half-sister in July, it was the first time they had seen their father since Christmas.

“That he lives in the United States makes it difficult because it means that we really cannot be co-parents. So I am the main caregiver for the children and they are with me all the time. But as long as you can have them for a period of time, it’s good, ”she says.

“They’ve only been there once and I guess they found it exciting. I try to stay as positive as possible about the situation and point out that they are lucky to be able to go to America and have fun, while I have a couple of weeks off, maybe to go on vacation too. So I try to see the positives. “

6

Aoife and Tadhg have been remarkably resilient through everything, and Una said she’s glad they have each other – the two are the best of friends.

Having them means that she could never regret her relationship with Ben.

“Marriage is just one day you sign a paper. A relationship is so much more, and some relationships are not meant to be forever.

“The relationship was meant to be, I wouldn’t have my two beautiful children if it weren’t for that, so I could never look back and regret it. I just know that now it wasn’t meant to be forever.

“Actually, I don’t think Tadhg has any recollection of us all being together as a family. It is normal for him. And for Aoife now too.

“If they looked around and all they saw were happy families, then that might be different for them if their mom and dad aren’t together, but they don’t feel like strangers. And there is so much love around them, they couldn’t be more loved. “

6

There have been many problems to solve, but her relationship with Ben is civil these days.

“It was pretty tough for a while, but that’s out of the way and we’re in a better place. In fact, we are getting along quite well now for the sake of the children. However, we are only talking about children. We don’t call each other to chat and we don’t go on vacation together like some people do!

“We are not friends or friends who walk, but now there are no discussions. I know it is healthy for children to have their dad in life. “

She added, “I’ve given myself time to enjoy being free from something that wasn’t right and feel lucky about it. You should appreciate that instead of thinking about sadness that it doesn’t work, it feels good to be relieved and free from what wasn’t right for you.

“The worst was towards the end, but we had a great time and I can look back and see that now.”