The sad news emerged last week that Lisa Armstrong and her boyfriend James Green have split after three years together.
The break-up was reportedly “out of the blue” and there was “no inkling anything was wrong”, with reports claiming that James has now moved out of Lisa’s riverside home in Chiswick.
And with the imminent return of hit BBC show Strictly Come Dancing – which Lisa has worked on since 2007 – insiders say the make-up artist is turning to her Strictly co-stars to distract from her heartbreak.
A source says, “Lisa is absolutely heartbroken and reeling from her split. She is trying to put on a brave face and move on as quickly as possible with her life, but the truth is, she is gutted and thought that they were going to get married.
“She’s grateful that she’s gearing up for Strictly though, so she’s just focusingon getting stuck back into work. She is already being comforted by her Strictly family that she loves so dearly. All the professional dancers have been reaching out to her, and [hosts] Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have also been checking in. She feels so grateful to have the show to fall back on and distract her during such a difficult time.”
Lisa, 46 – who, after working on The X Factor for years is now renowned for being the head of make-up on Strictly – was previously married to TV presenter Ant McPartlin. After meeting at a pop concert in 1994, they went on to wed in July 2006 at country house hotel Cliveden in Buckinghamshire. But after 11 years of marriage, the couple announced in January 2018 that they were divorcing, with proceedings finalised nine months later.
In March of that year, Ant was first linked to his now-wife and former personal assistant, Anne-Marie Corbett, whom he married in August 2021. When it came to signing his divorce papers, Ant admitted to adultery on the grounds that he started his relationship with Anne-Marie after he separated from Lisa, but when they were still legally married.
When Ant’s new relationship was made public, Lisa appeared to take several swipes at Anne-Marie on Twitter. Replying to glamour model Nicola McLean’s supportive message about her divorce, Lisa seemingly referred to Anne-Marie, writing, “Thanks babe, and to think she was MY friend”, followed by heartbroken emojis. There was also another instance where she agreed with the lack of “girl code” on display.
But then, in August 2020, Lisa found love again when she started dating electrician James after they exchanged numbers in a London bar.
And a source tells Closer that one of the contributing factors in them calling it a day is the fact the relationship was in the public eye.
The insider says, “One of the issues Lisa and James faced is how their relationship played out in the spotlight, which James had never experienced before. Lisa loved to share everything on her social media and sometimes it was because she wanted to show Ant that she was happy and had moved on – but it put added pressure on her relationship with James.
“That side of things did cause cracks and tension between them. But up until recently everything seemed fine, and her pals can’t believe how quickly they pulled the plug and fear there’s more to it.
“Lisa really wanted this to be her happy ending and part of her can’t help but blame Ant and the messy divorce for influencing the split. She was always going to struggle having a smooth-sailing new romance with anyone as she’s in the public eye, but James had brought a real sense of normalcy to her life that she had been craving. She’s had a lot of sleepless nights and there’s been a lot of tears, but Lisa knows she’s strong and can get through this, as hard as it feels right now.”
And the insider adds that her Strictly friends and colleagues have pledged to look after Lisa over the next few months, saying, “Her Strictly pals have vowed to keep an eye on her and make sure that she is surrounded by love and laughs, and Lisa can’t wait to get started on it. She knows at some point she’s going to have to fully process everything that happened with her and James – but for now, she just wants to head to work and try to forget about it for a bit. Strictly can’t come soon enough.”