The Chase star Mark Labbett has seemingly taken a swipe at his ex-girlfriend and denied rumours that he has used slimming jabs to lose weight.
The 59-year-old professional quizzer, who is known as "The Beast" on the popular ITV show, was in a relationship with TV host Hayley Palmer after breaking up with his wife Katie in 2020. But the pair split up in May this year - and Mark seemingly took a swipe at his ex by revealing he and Katie would only consider a divorce if either of them "get with someone serious."
He spoke out after Hayley, 43, said last month that the fact Mark broke up with her a week after their one-year anniversary left her "completely crushed" as she added: "The whole thing was traumatic, and it's been a journey to heal from it. He was truly beastly."
However, Mark told The Sun he feels "quite content" on his own as "people are complicated" and added: "It's nice just being in your man cave doing your own thing. Let's just say I'm able to watch a lot more sport than I used to." He also said he is "not actively looking" for another relationship "in any way, shape or form."
Mark, who slimmed down to 19-and-a-half stone since his marriage ended, said he has been on the receiving end of speculation that he lost weight through slimming jabs or by getting a gastric sleeve. But he shut these rumours down saying he has "just done it slowly" as he added: "I'm quite happy to go on Loose Women and take my shirt off with one of the TV doctors and say, 'See if you can find the gastric band scar, because you won't'."
Over the summer, Hayley said Mark ended their relationship with a phone call - and said she struggled with the break-up as it came just days after they celebrated their first anniversary. She said: "We went on Loose Women the week before we split up to talk about how happy we were.
"We had our one-year anniversary we were celebrating. We were booking theatre tickets with my mum and dad, we were organising quiz nights together. We were in a really good place as far as I was aware." The abrupt ending hit her hard as she revealed: "So when the phone call came completely out of the blue, the shock hit me so bad to my nervous system that, on reflection, I think I had a panic attack on the spot and lost all control of my body."
Hayley took to Instagram Stories to announce their separation, stating that she and Mark had parted ways but reflecting on them having had the "best year together". Yet, following the sudden split, she candidly admitted her mental health suffered during the subsequent weeks, OK! reported.
"My friend asked, 'Can you just get on the Tube and come to me? ' And I literally couldn't," she recalled. "I couldn't physically get on the Tube. I was walking around for three hours not knowing where I was going. It's a really scary place to be. The first week I was in absolute shock, then I just felt really low. The biggest thing was that my self-worth and my self-confidence had just gone to the absolute floor."
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