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Ulrika Jonsson says pandemic has brought her closer to ex-husband

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 20:  Ulrika Jonsson attends the World Premiere of 'One Direction: This Is Us' at Empire Leicester Square on August 20, 2013 in London, England.  (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
Ulrika Jonsson said there was a real 'joining of forces' with her ex during lockdown. (UK Press via Getty Images)

Ulrika Jonsson has said she and her ex Brian Monet are closer as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, saying there has been “a real joining of forces”.

The TV star, 52, split from Monet last year after what she has previously said was a “sexless” marriage.

But she has now revealed they are getting on better than ever and that lockdown has given them a sort of “exclusive, farewell ‘tour’.”

Jonsson told The Sun: “If you told me two years ago that a cruel and punitive virus would devastate the globe and make me spend more time with my ex-husband, I’d have believed the first part but not the latter.”

Read more: Ulrika Jonsson jokes she’ll be a virgin again when lockdown ends

The presenter said she had never hated Monet, who was her third husband, describing him as both a brilliant father to their son and a brilliant stepfather to her other children.

She said the pandemic brought about a sort of “galvanising moment” between them.

“As we moved forward, only capable of taking one day at a time because that’s all any of us can really do, I felt a real joining of forces,” she said.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 25:  (L-R) Ulrika Jonsson and Brian Monet attends the 5th anniversary performance of 'War Horse' at The New London Theatre, Drury Lane on October 25, 2012 in London, England.  (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)
Ulrika Jonsson and Brian Monet at the fifth anniversary performance of War Horse in 2012. (Getty Images)

During lockdown the pair have shared meals and barbecued together.

Jonsson said they have also helped each other out with household tasks and hair cuts.

Read more: Ulrika Jonsson wouldn't discourage her daughters from one night stands

“My ex and I have shared some laughs too during this time, something which was lacking in our marriage. That’s bittersweet but definitely more sweet than bitter,” she added.

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Jonsson is now in a new relationship but said she and Monet would always be family.

The couple married in 2008 and after their split in 2019, the former Gladiators star said they only had sex once in eight-and-a-half years.

Read more: Ulrika Jonsson had sex with husband once in eight years

In a heartfelt article she penned for The Sun, she recalled how she thought she “might have to just accept that [she] would never have sex ever again”.

“The reason I thought this is because I had not had sex for four and half years,” she admitted. “And the time before that was four years prior. I was living in a sexless marriage for nearly a decade.”

As well as her son with Monet, Jonsson has three other children from former relationships.