She is renowned for being social media’s golden girl, regularly sharing glimpses of her picture-perfect family life as a proud mum of five. But Stacey Solomon’s name was dragged through the mud last week when her ex-boyfriend Steve-O – whose real name is Stephen Glover – became embroiled in a historic drug scandal.
Stacey, 35 – who is now happily married to husband Joe Swash – was mentioned in a string of headlines and reports surrounding the news, with the Jackass star being referred to as ‘Stacey Solomon's ex’, and an insider tells Closer that it’s left her devastated.
‘Stacey is extremely upset that her name has been dragged into this,’ our source says. ‘Her relationship with Steve-O was a long time ago and they were only together for six months – she has moved on and created a whole new life since then. She’s built a huge brand for herself with Joe and the kids, and this is the last thing she wanted. She’s livid that she’s been brought into this story and is still being linked to him. She doesn’t want anything to do with him. It’s in the past and she wants to leave it there.’
Steve-O made headlines when his Celebrity Love Island co-star, the late Paul Danan, claimed on the Outlet Ten Discussions Podcast – which was released last week – that he smuggled drugs into the Fiji villa during their stint in 2006.
Speaking on his final podcast appearance before his death last month, Paul said of his villa entrance, ‘They didn't search you or anything like that because we're not stupid. No one's going to bring nothing on there. But guess who f**king did? They got Steve-O from Jackass, and he basically swallowed a load of f**king whatever, and he was like s**tting it out!’ Paul also suggested that Steve-O made a bong by cutting off the top of an apple, which led to him being ‘chucked out’.
At the time, ITV released a statement saying, ‘Steve-O became very emotional last night and again this morning, and was upsetting some of the other celebrities. We therefore agreed with him that he should go home. He has been great entertainment since he arrived on Monday, and we thank him for his contribution.’
Stacey met American stunt daredevil Steve-O, 50, on beleaguered reality show The Jump in 2015, six years after making it to the X Factor final and beginning her ascent to superstardom. Stacey – who at the time had just two sons, Zach, 16, with ex-boyfriend Dean Cox, and Leighton, 12, with former fiancé Aaron Barham – previously opened up to Lorraine Kelly about how they connected. She told the presenter, ‘I really like him. We just ended up being together all of the time on the show. He doesn't take life too seriously and I love that. That's what attracted me to him. On the last day I thought, “Oh no, I'm never going to see him again” so it all started from there really.’
The couple had a whirlwind romance for six months before their sudden split just shy of a decade ago. A source claimed at the time, ‘Stacey found it hard being away from Steve-O so they decided to put their relationship on hold.’
However, he painted a different picture in his 2022 autobiography by essentially revealing he’d ‘ghosted’ her. He wrote of his ex-girlfriend, ‘I was smitten, I lavished her with attention, I got what I wanted and then I broke it off. I had become not only part of her life, I’d become part of her kids’ lives too. And then – poof – I was gone.’
Steve-O – who has previously battled with substance abuse and sex addiction but is 16 years sober - continued, ‘To this day, I still beat myself up about the way it went down. Ironically, I don’t think Stacey does. We aren’t in touch anymore, but she has corresponded with my family and seems to bear no ill toward me.’
Stacey’s split from Steve-O in 2015 paved the way for her happily ever after with EastEnders actor Joe, 43, who she began dating in 2016, got engaged to in 2020 and wed in 2022. With Joe – who has a 17-year-old son Harry with ex-fiancée Emma Sophocleous - Stacey set up home in a £1.3 million Essex property, dubbed Pickle Cottage, where they are raising Zach, Leighton, and their three children Rex, five, Rose, three, and Belle, two.
And our insider says that after building a devoted six-million following online, Stacey is fearful that her reputation could be tarnished by her association with Steve-O.
They explain, ‘Stacey’s got this wholesome image and doesn’t want that to be wrecked by Steve-O’s scandal. It’s mortifying and embarrassing for her. She doesn’t understand why she’s been brought into. It’s been awful for her and has put a strain on her. She’s hoping the story disappears, but the damage has already been done.’
