James Haskell has once again spoken out about his relationship with Chloe Madeley after the couple announced their split in October.
The former rugby union player, 38, was forced to address the dynamics with the mother of his child, Bodhi, 17 months, during an appearance on The Jeremy Vine Show on Friday.
As host Jeremy mentioned that Chloe, 36, had appeared on the show recently, he awkwardly joked: ‘I was about to say your wife, and then I thought no ex-wife, or ex, how are you describing each other?’
‘Well she still is technically my wife’ stated James as he confirmed the pair are still living together and co-parenting their daughter.
The comments come as a stark contrast to previous comments James made back in December, where he insisted Chloe be called his ‘ex-wife’.
Speaking on his podcast the World Cup Afterparty: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly alongside Mike Tindall and Alex Payne, James set up an anecdote about his friend Mike, seemingly with the sole purpose of having an unsubtle pop at Chloe again.
He began: ‘Mike’s personality, actually as Zara told us, is “annoyingly honest Mike”. He sounds like a great person, but he’s not. He comes out after eight bottles of rosé and three bottles of red wine.
‘Then he basically tells you everything that you have ever done wrong and where you have gone wrong with complete disregard for any sensitivity – or anything he has ever done wrong – and also is completely out of context. And he won’t be reasoned with and he will not be argued with, right.’
After a short pause for dramatic effect, James continued: ‘Sounds like my wife actually’.
He then corrected himself to say: ‘Ex-wife actually,’ before adding: ‘No. It’s not official yet. Don’t put that in the papers.’
Yet despite past swipes, James seemed to have changed his tune as he gushed over Chloe during his chat with Jeremy.
Recalling that he had watched Chloe on the show while he stayed at home to look after Bodhi, he said: ‘Listen we are co-parenting I’m still living at home. I was watching, I was looking after Bodhi, the full hands on co-parenting.
‘But she was brilliant. Chloe is always fantastic. She is one of the best writers and has the ability of articulating points in the best ways.
He added: ‘When she comes on here she is fantastic.’
James has also previously said that Chloe won’t be getting any money when they divorce as he joked he’s been hiding all this money offshore to avoid having to pay the star.
Speaking during his live podcast he joked: ‘: ‘It’s just the stuff I bag under the bed. The amount of times I have been cancelled, I haven’t got a pot to p**s in.’
Later on, James recalled a story where he had ‘to go and meet a lawyer who is a friend of mine’ before adding ‘He’s now more of a business partner’ – a reference to the large amount of time he has recently spent with divorce lawyers.
Meanwhile Chloe has insisted the breakup is ‘a very positive decision’ and she’s ‘just felt a lot lighter’ since it happened.
Chloe and James were together for 10 years and had been married since 2018 when they called it quits.
In a candid chat with OK! Magazine, Chloe also admitted she ‘would love Bodhi to have a sibling’ but has no interest in dating at the moment as she comes to terms with the split, which she revealed came when their marriage simply ‘stopped being good’ after five years.
The star said: ‘I would love for Bodhi to have a sibling… I do really want more kids. But I don’t know what that would look like right now.’
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
