As we've seen way too many times, relationships in the public eye don't always work out well. But somehow Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch have made it through 16 years together and 11 whole years of marriage.
Now, an insider tells heat the model wants to put what she’s learned – including all their relationship highs and lows – to good use, sharing advice and marriage counselling as a celeb agony aunt.
“Abbey believes she and Pete have the secret formula to marriage,” says an insider close to the 36 year old, who shares kids Sophia, 11, Liberty, seven, Johnny, four, and Jack, three, with former England footballer Peter. “She’s so proud of how long she and Pete have lasted and wants to help other couples. She’s thinking of pitching the idea as
a TV show or podcast, and says it would be a nice bonding experience, working on it together.”
Last week, she kick-started her project with an Instagram story, telling her 519k followers, “Tell us your craziest relationship stories and I’ll be your agony aunt.”
Abbey has been open about her marriage struggles with Pete, 41, admitting last year that she “hated” her husband before they found out she was pregnant with Jack. She explained, “I don’t even know how I got pregnant to be quite honest… The pregnancy with our three-year-old Johnny was hell, I hated [Pete] and he hated me.” In fact, when Abbey rang to tell Pete she was expecting, he told her, “If you’re going to say what I think you’re going to say, don’t.”
And it wasn’t their first rough patch, as heat has previously reported. In their early days of dating back in 2006, Pete dumped Abbey after she allegedly took drugs at the World Cup in Germany, releasing a statement saying, “[We] were in the very early stages of a relationship, which, for a number of reasons, I decided a few weeks ago to end.” They reconciled, but faced problems in 2010, when claims surfaced that Pete had cheated on Abbey with a sex worker while on a stag do. Abbey, who was pregnant with Sophia at the time, later admitted, “It was horrendous.
For any woman who is pregnant or had a baby, it’s tough.”
Abbey also admitted to punching her husband when their baby Jack went missing, revealing, “I battered Pete in front of everyone… I threw a cup of coffee on him. I threw the coffee and I punched him. I don’t condone violence at all, but it was out of panic.”
Our insider continues, “For a long time, Abbey felt ashamed to admit she wasn’t happy in her marriage. She never dreamed she’d have the courage to talk about it publicly. But once they opened up about their feelings, they started to work out how to fix things. Abbey wants to encourage other couples to have the same fearlessness and honesty when it comes to relationships.”
But not everyone is so sure it’s a good idea – including Peter. “He isn’t convinced,” we’re told. The 6ft 7in star, already has his own successful sports podcast, and our source adds, “He’s not really one for airing his laundry in public and doesn’t want people to think they have all the answers to a long-lasting relationship. He’s a bit concerned that they could be setting themselves up for a fall and wants them to just enjoy what they have, without digging up all the dark times again.”
Here’s hoping the first episode is about how Abbey counselled him into taking part.
