Vanessa Feltz reveals 'life-shattering' heartbreak of being cheated on as she sympathises with Hancock's wife
Vanessa Feltz has opened up on the heartbreak of being cheated on by her ex-husband, saying her life "shattered into a million pieces" as she sympathised with Martha Hancock.
This Morning contributor Feltz, 59, was part of a discussion on Monday's show about disgraced former health secretary Matt Hancock's affair with aide Gina Coladangelo, which came to light when photos of them kissing were published – something she said she could relate to.
Read more: Vanessa Feltz discusses rocketing libido and athletic sex life
Feltz was married to Dr Michael Kurer from 1983 to 2000 and they have two daughters who were aged 10 and 13 when Kurer's affair was exposed.
The TV and radio star remembered: "I was in a situation exactly the same as Martha Hancock, whereby I think she thought she was happily married, I don’t think she thought there were any problems in her marriage, then she found out in a newspaper and that’s exactly what happened to me."
Feltz told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: "I thought I was one of the lucky ones, I thought I had a lovely marriage but then I got a phone call from the Daily Mirror columnist Sue Carroll saying, 'Vanessa, please sit down, unfortunately, there’s going to be a picture in the paper tomorrow with a picture of your husband with a woman he’s having an affair with.'
"My whole life just collapsed and shattered into a million pieces. It was absolutely astounding, all of these years later I can barely describe to you the shock of it."
Feltz had been convinced it was a misunderstanding, but was devastated when she called Kurer to clear things up and he admitted he was happy with somebody else.
Watch: The rise and fall of Matt Hancock
She said: "Then nothing is the same again, your future is gone and your past you realise was probably built on an absolute tissue of lies and everybody else is reading it over their Frosties the next morning."
Adding that one of her daughters had to endure the affair being discussed on a radio station that was playing on a coach she was on going to a school trip, she said supporting her children had been tough.
She said: "I felt so unprepared to guide them through it because it was such a shock to me.
"I felt as if my heart was physically broken, I felt like I could feel the blood trying to make its way to the other chamber of the heart.
"I could barely breathe, I couldn’t sit down and relax and read a book for four years. I felt like every cell in my body had changed from the shock of it all."
Read more: Holly Willoughby's embarrassing confession about gardening blunder
Feltz then hosted a This Morning phone-in for viewers going through similar issues.
She has been with her partner Ben Ofoedu since 2006.
Watch: Boris Johnson suggests he sacked Matt Hancock