Latest news with #VanessaBrown
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Vanessa Feltz's fury at ex Ben Ofoedu's callous broadside about her on his wedding day: Friends tell KATIE HIND how she 'knows his game' - and reveal inner his circle's spiteful nickname
It was an outburst few expected on what should have been the happiest day of his life. Moments after singer Ben Ofoedu said 'I do' to his new wife, Vanessa Brown, at the breathtakingly beautiful medieval Rose Castle in Cumbria last week, he launched a bitter broadside at his ex – another Vanessa, with whom he was in a relationship from 2006 to 2023.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ben Ofoedu makes extraordinary swipe at ex Vanessa Feltz in his wedding speech after tying the knot with new wife 'Vanessa 2.0' in lavish £100k ceremony
Ben Ofoedu made an extraordinary reference to ex Vanessa Feltz as he married his new bride, who he affectionately calls 'Vanessa 2.0', earlier this week. The Phats & Small singer, 52, was previously set to marry the TV personality, 63, until reports of his infidelity were leaked to the press in 2023. He has since moved on with aesthetics expert Vanessa Brown, who is 23 years his junior, marrying in a lavish £100,000 ceremony in Cumbria. However, despite his romance with Celebrity Big Brother star Vanessa ending two years ago, Ben made a savage dig at his ex, claiming he'd 'wasted 17 years' in their relationship. In an exclusive Mail+ interview, Ben reflected on his relationship with the former This Morning agony aunt, stating: 'Never again will I do that. I wasted 17 years of my life. 'I don't believe in long engagements any more. You don't want to get married if there's a question mark over your engagement. 'If you don't want to commit to someone, that's fine. But don't pretend you do and hold on to someone for a long period of time. Let them free, let them fly.' Speaking of his joy at finally becoming a husband, Ben shared: 'I have been waiting for this feeling, I have always wanted to be married since I was seven years old. I always wanted to be with someone who would take my surname. 'I almost gave up on marriage, thinking there wasn't a lady that would walk down the aisle for me. 'I can't believe the day has come, it is a dream come true. It feels like I've been waiting for this moment all my life. This is the finale of the chapter that was 17 years of my life.' After undergoing therapy in the wake of their split, the DJ – who refuses to mention Feltz by name 'ever again' – said the torrid experience gave him clarity. 'I knew what I was getting into going out with someone that talks about their sex life on TV. What did I expect? It was great media attention for her. I went into it with my eyes wide open thinking it wouldn't affect me, but it did.' As he surveyed the crowd of loved ones, Ofoedu reflected that the most valuable outcome of his break-up with Feltz was 'finding out who my real friends are'. He said: 'I thought I was friends with everyone but people acted differently towards me [after the break up]. At the time it hurt me but it turned out to be great because it showed me who actually had my back – every member of Boyzone and a couple of boys from Blu who couldn't be here. 'But I know she [Vanessa Feltz] will look at these pictures today and see that everyone here knows the truth about our relationship and the narrative she spun. 'This love with Vanessa [Brown] has made me realise that the other one didn't love me as much as she made out, we had two different definitions of love.' Insisting he didn't want to make his special day about the 'past', Ofoedu added: 'All of that was worth it and everything happens for a reason because I've found my perfect person. 'The main thing now [is] it's ended happily ever after for me – getting married in a beautiful castle in Carlisle and I'm happy. 'Vanessa is the woman of my dreams, our connection was instant and when I found out she was dreaming of a beautiful white wedding fit for a princess, I thought, 'Ben, it's time to get your Prince Charming boots on and be the fairytale prince she's always dreamed of'. 'As I look back at our beautiful romance it has confirmed my belief that true love is waiting around the corner – you just have to keep the faith.' Bride Vanessa echoed the sentiment, beaming as she recalled how their connection had been 'instant', adding: 'It was like everything suddenly made sense. When you know, you know.' She revealed the couple hope to start a family within the next year and are planning a business venture together. 'But I know she [Vanessa Feltz] will look at these pictures today and see that everyone here knows the truth about our relationship and the narrative she spun' Though the new bride didn't shy away from referencing her husband's former relationship, she dismissed the negativity surrounding it. She said: 'When it comes to his last relationship, a lot of it is spiteful and untrue. 'I'm the right person for him. Their relationship ended for reasons the public weren't aware of. Everyone always says they have never seen Ben as happy as he is now. 'That's a testament to where he is in his life. He's completely fulfilled when previously he wasn't. 'To be honest I don't care whatsoever, I couldn't care less about her. She is his ex – I have exes – and they're in the past. 'Why would you care?' Brown adds, talking about Feltz. 'Enjoy your retirement, your family and just chill. Stop talking about it, it's so tragic! 'Part of me feels sorry for her but it's my life and I don't care.'
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Vanessa Feltz will look at these photos and see everyone knows the truth. I wasted 17 years: Jaw-dropping interview with ex-fiance Ben Ofoedu as he marries 'Vanessa 2.0'... and the bride's verdict's even WORSE
When Ben Ofoedu split from his fiancee Vanessa Feltz after 16 years together, he believed he'd never get the chance to walk down the aisle. But on Wednesday, the musician's dream of becoming a husband finally came true – and, in a curious twist, he married another Vanessa. Not a television presenter or reality star like Feltz, but an aesthetics expert, Vanessa Brown, who is 23 years his junior.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Brickbat: Stealing My Own Stuff
In England, Surrey police arrested Vanessa Brown and held her in a cell for over seven hours on suspicion of theft after she took away her daughters' iPads to help them focus on schoolwork. She took the devices to her mother's house, where police tracked them following a report of concern for safety, treating the situation as a potential crime and even pulling one of Brown's daughters out of school for questioning. Brown described the ordeal as traumatic, criticizing the police for overreacting and treating her and her elderly mother like criminals. The next day, police confirmed the iPads belonged to Brown's daughters, dropped all charges, and lifted her bail conditions, admitting she had the right to take the devices. The post Brickbat: Stealing My Own Stuff appeared first on
Telegraph
14-04-2025
- Telegraph
Police should try solving actual crimes instead of arresting parents
I have lost track of the number of times I have stomped downstairs, unplugged the PlayStation, collected up any device I can see and bundled everything into a drawer, declaring that my children will not have access to them for the rest of the day/week/month/term due to the intolerable aggro they cause, especially now, during the school holidays. My youngest son recently spent at least an hour searching for the old iPhone he uses to listen to music before we eventually discovered it in a bag where I'd put it last time I did a device confiscation session. This follows one of my most pleasing memories of recent years, which was the time when my husband and I banned all screens – including the TV – for the entirety of the summer term after a particularly egregious fight between my two elder sons. After the initial outrage, and once they realised we weren't going to back down, all three of my children got on with it – and there was far less bickering and much more contented playing that summer than any other in living memory. My conclusion: taking away screens when your children are being horrible works, even if you're only banning them for 24 hours. So I was horrified to hear about what happened to Vanessa Brown last month. In March, Ms Brown, 50, was arrested on suspicion of theft and then detained, searched and banged up by Surrey Police for nearly eight hours after she took her daughters' iPads away in an effort to get her 16-year-old eldest daughter to focus on revision. She went to visit her mother in Cobham for a coffee, took the tablets with her and a couple of hours later had the plod knocking on the door to conduct a 'welfare check', before arresting her. There but for the grace of God, etc. Surrey Police has since apologised, and acknowledged its error. Yet this is not the first time police have massively overreached into somebody's private life lately: just weeks ago, a couple in Hertfordshire were arrested after complaining about the recruitment process for a new headteacher at their children's primary school in a class WhatsApp group. Last year, the Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson was investigated by Essex Police over a social media post; they later dropped the investigation. Meanwhile, police take up to 28 hours to respond to actual burglaries, with an average wait time of nine hours and eight minutes and response times delayed by 25 per cent on the previous year, according to the most recent data from 2022/23. In a truly Kafkaesque twist, four of the most senior policemen in England have just called for children under 16 to be banned from social media to protect them from the online violence, misogyny and extremism that is 'fuelling and enabling' crime. Take away the devices that give access to these platforms however, and it appears you might get arrested. Huh? Every parent I know grapples with the screen dichotomy of modern life. On the one hand, modern mobile technology is a useful tool: in phones, tablets and laptops we can access almost any information we need at the click of a button; we can connect to people around the world; we can listen to music, learn a language, practise for a test or heck, even – as I am doing right now on a train – write a newspaper column. On the other, mobile technology – and what it facilitates – is like crack for young developing minds. Limiting it is a no-brainer. A lot of parents go to desperate lengths to do this: confiscating devices like I did (and do); locking phones and tablets away in drawers; holding off as long as they can before giving their child a smartphone (my 14-year old still doesn't have one – an increasing source of tension in our house). The TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp went one further a couple of years ago and smashed her children's iPads after they broke her rules about screen time. And yet all we get from on high are hysterical responses to a TV drama that the PM keeps calling a documentary and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson calling for more male teachers to fix all of society's problems while seemingly unwilling to confront the deeper questions of why nobody – male or female – wants to go into teaching in the first place. The only thing they won't actually do is ban smartphones in schools – something that the leader of the country's largest teaching union called for this month – or devote grown-up, level-headed time and resources to analysing the real dangers of new tech on our children's brains. In a public health campaign, for example, that might help parents come up with a rational plan as to how to manage the tightrope walk of preparing our children sensibly for the adult world while not letting them run riot online. Instead, this Government recently watered down a private member's Bill that sought to introduce tougher controls on smartphone and social media use by children, and continues to prevaricate on an outright school phone ban. Grappling with this stuff is hard. It requires nuance and thought and time. And it shouldn't be just the Government's responsibility either – as parents we also need to learn to say no. But when we do, we need backup, not arresting.
