She’s loved-up with husband Joe Swash – who she married in the summer at their home, Pickle Cottage – and her four kids. But Stacey Solomon was dragged into drama last week when her ex-boyfriend, Jackass superstar Steve-O, dished the dirt on their past relationship.
In his new book, A Hard Kick In The Nuts: What I’ve Learned From A Lifetime Of Terrible Decisions, Steve-O – whose real name is Stephen Gilchrist Glover – reflected on his battle with sex addiction and relationship with the former X Factorsinger and said he “still beats himself up’” over how things ended.
He wrote, “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.”
The 48-year-old added that this was not a one-off, as other women had received similar treatment. He explained, “I’d meet some woman, pour on the charm to convince her I really cared about her (which I invariably thought I did), sleep with her a few times, then lose interest and ghost. Wash, rinse, repeat.”
But insiders say the sex revelations have left Stacey feeling humiliated.
The source says, “Stacey felt mortified – and really triggered – by Steve-O dredging up the past in the way he has. She feels it’s completely inappropriate considering she’s a married woman now, and it makes it worse that it’s come not long after her wedding. She was beside herself – she regrets trusting him, believing all of his affections, letting him into her life and meeting her kids. She thought the least he could do was to never mention any of it ever again.”
Stacey, 33, met former hell-raiser Steve-O – who found fame doing outrageous stunts on US TV series Jackass and had a wild drink and drugs lifestyle off screen – on The Jump in 2015 and the pair went on to date for six months.
Their romance was perceived as an unlikely one, considering their 15-year age gap and different backgrounds, but it progressed quickly, with Steve-O meeting Stacey’s children, Zachary, who is now 14, and 10-year-old Leighton.
During an appearance on Celeb Juice before their split, Steve-O reflected on the moment they crossed paths in Austria on winter sports series The Jump. “I liked her right away and we just started having a great time,” he said. Their split was reported to have left Stacey “really hurt”, but according to her ex’s book, she has not held a grudge.
But now, Closer’s source says that Stacey is far from happy with how he has gone about detailing their relationship, and she hasn’t truly forgiven him for his past behaviour.
The source says, “Stacey thinks it’s disrespectful to Joe, especially as the way Steve behaved seems linked to his sex addiction, which he talks about in his book. His sex addiction ruined many of his relationships, and definitely affected his and Stacey’s.Saying things like ‘he got what he wanted’ makes it seem as though Stacey was just another notch on his bedpost, when she knows it was more than that. He completely love bombed her and turned out to be toxic – it was agony.
“She’s furious because she knows how the fame game works, and he’s obviously mentioning it to boost sales of the book in the UK where Stacey is a big name. But considering Steve is from the States, he could have quite easily left it all out. She feels betrayed at how it’s been brought up publicly. Steve probably thinks he’s doing the right thing by explaining himself, and in some way apologising for his behaviour and owning up to it, but Stacey doesn’t want to hear it. She’s also never forgiven him for ghosting her in the way that he did, which was so painful at the time.”
Following her split from Steve, Stacey went Instagram-official with now-husband Joe, 40, in January 2016, after they first met during her stint on I’m A Celeb! in 2010. The couple have since welcomed two children, Rex, three, and Rose, one, and had an idyllic wedding in July. Professionally, Stacey is thriving, having become a Loose Women panellist, a presenter on Sort Your Life Out and a bestselling author with her book Tap To Tidy.
And following her ex’s revelations, insiders say that Stacey is just hoping it all blows over and nothing else comes out.
The source adds, “The whole thing has stung Stacey, not because she still has feelings for Steve, but because it brings back bad memories that she would rather not have to relive. She’s far from happy at having painful and sleazy sex-related stories from the past brought up.”