Anthea Turner has told of the “double blow” she felt when told by her ex-husband Grant Bovey that he might have stayed in their marriage if they were able to have children together.
The TV presenter also said she feels regret for her relationship with Grant and the “pain” it caused others after they embarked on their romance while both still married to other people.
Anthea told Hello! magazine: “Looking back, I regret the pain we caused.
“It was a terrible time of hurt all round and, knowing what I know now, I am so sorry about it all.”
Anthea and Grant married in 2000 after first meeting in 1998, both leaving their respective partners.
They first split in 2012 and briefly reconciled before separating for good in 2013, and were divorced in 2015 on the grounds of his adultery.
Anthea said: “I can understand why some people think I got my comeuppance when my relationship then went on to deteriorate in the way it did.
“But I loved Grant and I can’t regret the 15 years we had together. There were some very happy times.”
Grant has three children from his first marriage and Anthea had always longed to start a family of their own.
She underwent several rounds of IVF treatment but they were never able to have children together.
Anthea said: “I did once ask (Grant) if he would have stayed if we’d had our own children, to which he replied, ‘Possibly’.
“I shall never know, of course, but I can’t pretend that wasn’t painful to hear.
“It was a double blow, I guess.”
Having recently celebrated her 57th birthday, Anthea said she is in a “good place for the first time in a while”.
“This is the first year I have woken up and felt normal, and not lost,” she said.
She said she would not mind finding a new partner and joked that she is “auditioning” for a man.
Anthea added: “I’m in a happy place and I don’t need anybody, but if someone nice were to come along I’d be open to loving again.”
Read the full article in Hello!, out now.