She briefly walked out of their home in May to deal with their “issues” and, last week, Jacqueline Jossa opened up about their relationship as she revealed how therapy in lockdown had helped save her three-year marriage to Dan Osborne.
Their marriage was thrown into doubt last year after it was claimed Dan, 29, had cheated on her during a threesome with his former Celebrity Big Brother housemates Chloe Ayling and Natalie Nunn during a night out in 2018.
And in a revealing admission last week, Jacqueline, 28, finally explained why she had moved out earlier this year, saying, “I kept it in for a while, but then over lockdown it was a really good time and place for Daniel and I to go through everything – an opportunity for us to talk through it all. For me, this meant turning to therapy.
“And because of that, I couldn’t be in the same house as Dan. It was like when you wake up after a bad dream about someone, you need some space – that’s what it was like with therapy.”
The former EastEnders actress had been in theI’m A Celeb! jungle last year when model Chloe Ayling made the threesome revelations. Dan initially hit out at Chloe’s claims, saying they were “not true” – but has not commented since Natalie confirmed Chloe’s story.
Natalie, 35 – who is married to US footballer Jacob Payne, 28 – claimed the story was true, saying, “I had sex with Dan in my hotel room. I was drunk and it was a huge mistake – but it happened.”
Weeks later, Dan, Jacob and Natalie met up in London to discuss the situation, but Natalie said that Jacqueline pulled out of the talks just hours before.
Instead, Jacqueline turned to therapy, saying last week it “really, really helped us communicate better”, and revealed she and Dan are even considering renewing their wedding vows – while she blasted the women who “sold stories” about her husband as “bitches”.
In recent months, Jacqueline and Dan have appeared in a much better place. Before the second lockdown, they enjoyed a date night away at a luxury spa and have appeared loved-up on social media – with Dan telling fans they are “super attracted to each other” and praising their “beautiful family.” He also hinted that – as well as renewing their wedding vows – they will try for another baby, adding, “Jac looks amazing pregnant and it would be nice adding to the family.”
When asked by a fan how she learned to forgive and move forward – alluding to the cheating scandals – Jacqueline replied, “You can’t go backwards. Don’t live in the past, don’t hold it with you.”
But despite being desperate to move on from her heartache, it seems another bombshell about the sex scandal is set to explode. Natalie tells Closer that the aftermath of the scandal, and how it affected her own marriage, will be the focus of an upcoming reboot of her US reality show, Bad Girls, at the beginning of December.
Natalie explains, “The story of me and Dan sleeping together is brought up on my show and it gets really heated. I’ve gone through my own issues with my family and my husband because of the cheating – it didn’t just affect Jacqueline’s marriage, it affected mine, too.”
Natalie says she and Jacob turned to therapy in a bid to save their nine-year marriage after the alleged one-night stand, and she applauds Jacqueline for doing the same – although she believes the couple, who share daughters Ella, five, and Mia, two, should have done it sooner, as other girls have also claimed to have slept with Dan.
Check out: EastEnders spoilers: Ian Beale's attacker is arrested – but is it the right person?
EastEnders spoilers: an arrest is made – but are they guilty? - slider
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The week begins with Ian lying motionless on the floor while someone creeps past and makes sure no one sees them leaving The Vic. Sharon returns to The Vic after picking up Albie from Karen Taylor's but she's stunned when she finds Ian on the floor.
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She quickly calls Kathy but when they're unable to find a pulse they panic and waiting for the ambulance.
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While Ian is rushed to the hospital, the police arrive and suspicions are running high on who attacked Ian.
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Jack leads the case but because Ian has so many enemies its not as easy as the police officers would have thought.But by Tuesday they manage to make a break-through and arrest a resident – but is it the right person?
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As the investigation into Ian's attack continues, alibies are given and even more information comes to light.
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While the police are given more leads, other residents try to cover their tracks.
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At the end of the week Jack has another suspect in mind and a police interview gets underway.
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Callum Highway continues in his questioning – but could his answers be closer to home?
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Honey Mitchell tells Jay Brown that Paul has been convicted for assaulting another woman and now he's going to prison.
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Their conversation is cut short by Suki Panesar who calls out a thief. They all discover that it's Will who has stashed some food in his bag.
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Will is quick to explain that he was taking the food to give to a friend whose family is struggling, but Suki revels in wanting to make an example out of him.
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However she soon changes when Will points out he was only taking food that's out of date.
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Kat and Kush sneak home but they've picked the worse time ever because there's police swarming the Square.
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They're desperate to get their cash from Phil before fleeing the country but Kush has other plans…
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Kat decides to confront Phil but is shocked when he actually hands it over… Her happiness doesn't last long though because Phil only gives her a fraction of what is owed.
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Elsewhere as the consequences of his actions dawn on him, Kush makes a huge decision and decides to hand himself into the police.Kat is left stunned when she bumps into Jack who reveals that Kush has handed himself in.
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When Kat tells Phil, he's left reeling. He then issues her a stark warning. At the end of the week, Kat feels disappointed and hurt at Kush's actions and is ready to leave Walford behind.
She says, “I hope that Jacqueline having therapy showed Dan she’s allowed him to change and fix himself, because it’s easy to throw away the key and say, ‘I’m done, I don’t want to be with him any more’.
“But if I was Jacqueline, I would have gone to therapy earlier. I know her ‘silly bitches’ comment was aimed at me and Chloe, but what happened with us is just one story – there are more stories about him out there. I think Dan is just a big playboy. The only ‘silly’ person here is Jacqueline. She needs to look in the mirror because she keeps taking him back even after hearing all these stories. It’s scandal after scandal.
“She probably shouldn’t blame the other women because she’s turning her cheek to the real point here: her husband is a liar.”
Natalie insists Dan begged her to deny their one-night stand after Chloe spoke out about it, and alleges he tried to meet up with her again when he was in her native Los Angeles for work, although she’s adamant that they’ve since ended all contact.
She says, “He no longer messages me, which is cool. It’s because I spoke out [that we cut contact]. He really did not want me saying anything.”
As well as Natalie, Dan has also been linked to former Love Island star Alexandra Cane and fellow Islander Gabby Allen, who starred in CBB with both Dan and Natalie. He denied both accusations.
Gabby was again caught up in the cheating scandal when it was reported that her ex and Jacqueline’s I’m A Celeb! campmate,Myles Stephenson, told Jacqueline in the jungle how he had found texts between Dan and Gabby. Now Natalie claims Gabby was forced to “run away” after being caught up in Dan’s marital issues.
Natalie says, “I’m friends with Gabby. I talk to her a lot and she’s tried really hard to remove herself from the drama with Dan and Jacqueline. She ran away to Thailand for a month after I’m A Celeb! because she was avoiding this. Girls are literally running from this.”
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Although he has never commented on which cheating accusations were true, Dan confessed in June to having “made mistakes”, saying, “I’ve done things I shouldn’t have done” – insisting that he now takes “full responsibility for being c**p” and that his wife had forgiven him and moved on. He also admitted that, if things were the other way around, he would have left Jacqueline.
However, when asked if she believes Dan has changed, Natalie sighs, “I don’t know. I know I’ve changed after going to therapy. I can’t say Dan’s the worst guy in the world, but he’s got a lot more stories under his belt. I’m not perfect, I’ve made a few mistakes too in my life and I’ve changed. Dan possibly could have changed, too.
“I know, for me, I really regret it. Jacob’s my best friend, so for me to hurt him, I really need to take accountability for that. That’s why I had therapy with him – I needed to sit down and fix it.”
Get the best celeb interviews in Closer magazine each week.