Olly Murs' long-running feud with twin brother who cut contact and changed name after wedding bust-up

Olly Murs' long-standing rift with his twin brother, who went as far as changing his name and cutting off contact following a wedding dispute, has been a source of intrigue for years.

The siblings were once inseparable until Olly's rise to stardom on the X Factor led to a dramatic falling out.

The tension reached a peak when Olly, now 39, chose to miss Ben's wedding, where he was supposed to be the best man, in favour of appearing on the ITV talent show.

Ben felt betrayed, accusing Olly of prioritising fame over family, and claimed that the X Factor star had "torn the family apart", reports the Mirror.

Despite the ongoing estrangement, Olly, who did not extend a wedding invitation to Ben last year, is embracing fatherhood after the birth of his daughter Madison with wife Amelia Tank just last month.

It remains uncertain if Ben has had the opportunity to meet his niece.

Here's the lowdown on the Murs twins' longstanding feud....

The wedding snub that ignited the feud

The discord between Olly and his brother began back in 2009 when Olly missed Ben's wedding, including his responsibilities as the best man, to stay in the running for The X Factor semi-finals.

This led Ben to condemn Olly as a "self-obsessed sell out".

"Our family was torn apart because of X Factor," Ben said as he expressed his disappointment to the Sunday People in 2009.

He felt sidelined, believing that figures like Simon Cowell took precedence over family ties.

Olly himself acknowledged the unfortunate clash whilst on The Voice, explaining to Will. i. am that his commitment to the X Factor prevented him from attending his brother's nuptials.

Asked about his brother's whereabouts, he confessed: "I have no idea."

Yet, Olly has previously indicated that their relationship had been under strain well before his stint on the ITV talent show, accusing Ben of leveraging the wedding as a reason to sever ties.

"I don't speak to my twin brother and that's been extremely difficult. Long before X Factor there were problems between Ben and his girlfriend and our family," he disclosed to the Sunday Times Magazine. He elaborated: "His wedding was his excuse for not having me in his life anymore... I don't think he ever liked us as a family."

'Big argument'

Following the wedding fallout, Olly opened up about the family feud during his time on The Voice, confessing: "We had a big argument."

On the brink of tears, he added: "I feel like the next time I am going to see him is going to be at the worst place to see someone. It will be at someone's (funeral) that we lose in the family. I don't want that to be the case. I miss having my twin with me... This bond as a twin, it was something I was proud about and I still am."

As his fellow coaches offered support, Olly continued: "We used to sing together all the time..we could've been up there on the stage," before returning to his chair, clearly moved.

Ben's fallout with parents

Ben didn't just distance himself from Olly but also from their parents, accusing them of being swayed by 'fame and greed'.

In an attempt to distance himself, he even adopted his wife Amy's surname, Hart, and criticised his parents for showing favouritism towards his brother.

In a Sunday People interview, Ben expressed his frustration: "My parents wanted this bright, shiny Olly with the money who can give them the VIP lifestyle.

"They liked hanging around with Simon Cowell, or going to Bon Jovi concerts they loved their VIP selfies. I'm not interested in anything like that, I have a lovely life with my wife and kids. I've worked hard, been to university and got a degree, I've never wanted anything from Olly."

The twins' mother reveals the rift left her 'too sick' to work

Amidst the family feud, Vicky, the mother of Olly and Ben, revealed that the stress of the situation left her too ill to work and caused such severe physical symptoms that she believed she had multiple sclerosis.

"It was such a shock it made me ill. I even thought I had MS I had to use a walking stick because my legs were so weak. I also couldn't work. I was on the verge of a breakdown," she previously shared with the Sunday Times Magazine.

Vicky concluded: "I'm much better now but my heart is broken. Ben's broken my heart, and his dad's, but I will not hear anything against him, I don't think he understands what he's done."

Ben alleges he reached out to Olly - but was rebuffed

On his part, Ben claimed that he tried to reconcile with Olly after the birth of his son in 2013, but alleged that his estranged brother told him to delete his number.

Olly labelled these accusations as 'inconsistent', and attempted to reconcile in 2017.

However, his efforts were rejected by Ben who stated to the Sunday People: "I've moved on. I wish him all the best. But I've got my life and he's got his. The last time I made contact I got the door slammed in my face."

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