Chloe Madeley says 'awful' split from James Haskell left her in depression

Reality TV star Chloe Madeley has opened up about her split from ex-husband James Haskell, revealing it triggered a depressive episode. The couple, who have a daughter together, and have a holiday home in Cornwall, announced their separation in October last year, and Chloe has now confessed that the end of their marriage was "awful."

The 36 year old, who is the daughter of renowned TV hosts Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who live in the county, didn't hold back in a recent interview with OK! magazine. She said: "I'm never going to go into great detail about why we broke up because it's not fair on anyone and I wouldn't want him to either, but what I will say is it was f***ing awful."

As reported by The Mirror, she added: "Part of the reason we wanted to end it was because we wanted it to stop being awful, so why would we then take that into a break-up and it continue being awful. It was hard at the beginning. You have to work at it like everything in life and we've really done that."

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Despite maintaining a brave front in public, Chloe admitted that things were very different behind closed doors. The fitness enthusiast, who pursued a career as a personal trainer, revealed that she fell into a depression.

Her mental health deteriorated to such an extent that she found herself unable to respond to messages from friends. She said: "I've actually never had depression before obviously it was very circumstantial so I didn't realise when people say 'I can't' do something, you really just can't.

"Friends would say, 'come over and have dinner', but I couldn't, I couldn't even reply to emails. Other than taking care of Bodhi I wasn't really doing any real self-care."

After their separation, they continued living together in their shared home, but James appears to be moving out in July. Chloe's statement followed her discussions about unseen parts of the reality TV show A Family Affair.

While on ITV's Loose Women panel, she explained: "A lot happens behind closed doors that wasn't on the show but it's amazing how many people picked up on it.We thought we had done a good job but obviously not."

Reflecting on her highly publicised breakup, she continued: "I think there's pillars that hold up a relationship such as love and respect.Over time all of our pillars disintegrated and when that happens there is no saving it. We get on better now we aren't romantically together.Since we parted ways our relationship has become very respectful and we love each other as friends."

She continued: "One of the things that was hard was him being away so much DJing like four or five nights a week but that works for us now because I get my time alone and then he comes back and has his time with Bodhi. I'm happier now than I have ever been and he is happy too. There were horrible weeks when I struggled to get out of bed but once I drew a line, I was ok. I want James to be happy, I want Bodhi to be happy and I want to be happy."

If you're dealing with mental health issues, trained advisors from Mind mental health charity can be reached on 0300 123 3393 or via email at info@mind.org.uk.