When Olivia Attwood entered the Love Island villa in 2017, the world was captivated by her love story with Chris Hughes. The pair might not have scooped the £50,000 prize, but they came in third place and became respective superstars.
However, the love story that fewer people know about is that with her husband, footballer Bradley Dack. They’ve been on/off more times than a light switch, but like moths to a flame, they keep coming back to each other, and got married in 2023.
That being said, the course to true love never did run smooth, so here’s what we know about Liv’s especially bumpy ride with Bradley…
Olivia Attwood and husband Bradley Dack – Cheating scandal
Olivia first met Bradley in 2015, and the pair began dating soon after. However, their relationship was tumultuous right from the outset.
Back in 2017, pre-Love Island, Olivia discovered that Brad had cheated. “Anyone who has been cheated on knows it’s just the most horrible thing,” she later said in an interview. “Brad and I hadn’t met each other’s families at that point but we were dating. I was deeply shocked.”
The extent of Brad’s philandering was revealed to Oliva – who’s on Celebrity Catchphrase this weekend (October 18) – shortly before her appearance as a ring girl at the 2017 Formula 1 Grand Prix. A woman called her claiming to be Brad’s girlfriend.
“I’ll remember that phone call for the rest of my life because it was so traumatic, chilling almost because you’re having an out-of-body experience,” Olivia told MailOnline. “When you hear that, your brain starts to try to put it all together, thinking, how? Where? When? Your mind just starts going into overdrive. The next day I was on the F1 track looking all gorgeous with everyone kind of drooling over me.
“But inside I wanted to cry because I just felt so ugly and kept asking: ‘Why do I keep getting cheated on? I can’t even get a guy to keep it in his pants.’ It was a horrible feeling. But it made me realise I couldn’t miss out on the Love Island opportunity again. Luckily, they still wanted me.”
Olivia Attwood’s journey to Love Island
Olivia has since made it clear that getting even was part of the reason she went on Love Island. Because what better revenge is there than moving on with a new man with the whole nation watching?
In fact, she was the one who rang up Love Island producers after discovering Brad’s philandering ways. She had previously turned down season 2 on account of her relationship.
So, she went on the show, met Chris, and the rest was history — that is, until the Love Island finalists broke up after a few months together.
By early 2018, Olivia had found her way back to Bradley.
Back to Brad
The pair kept their relationship under wraps for a few months before announcing they were back together, and just a year later, in 2019, they got engaged.
Yet, Olivia later disclosed that this wasn’t easy.
“I try to be honest, as people think post-Love Island he and I just got back together and there you go, a fairy tale. But it wasn’t,” she told the Mail.
“The first six months of dating were pretty shaky because we both had our guard up. I was navigating being out of Love Island; he was at a new football club. We were getting to know each other again. It depends how motivated you are. Talk is cheap but you have to show the commitment. We’d have building blocks, then we’d keep having little setbacks, and then eventually you get to a place where you have a foundation.”
Wedding bells as Olivia Attwood marries husband Bradley… and that Ibiza drama
In 2023, Olivia Attwood and husband Brad finally tied the knot in Dubai, with the marriage being the centre of her reality show, Olivia Marries Her Match.
Since then, things have been uncharacteristically quiet on the relationship front for Liv — that is, until she was spotted cosying up to close friend Pete Wicks during a luxury yacht trip in Ibiza.
As the pair partied, snaps showed Liv without her wedding ring and leaning close to Pete, with his hand on her leg.
According to MailOnline, an insider says that Brad was left “fuming” at the pictures, which he discovered after they were sent to Gillingham FC’s WhatsApp group.
Reportedly, teammates “couldn’t resist” winding Brad up, with the source adding: “Bradley’s tried to laugh it off, but inside he’s fuming about it. Olivia will never change, she’s a party girl at heart and has been working so hard this year, she needed some time to blow off steam. The issue now is her public flaunting of her flirty ways. She has a very public profile now so for Bradley her wild partying in Ibiza did irritate and anger him.
“He definitely had some cross words for Liv but she fully accepts and embraces who she is, flaws and all. Nothing is going on between Liv and Pete, they are friends and it’s completely ridiculous to say otherwise. Olivia and Bradley are happily married.”
‘Where the helly is Brad?’
In a clear signal as to the status of his relationship, Brad later stepped out to meet fans with his wedding band on for all to see.
However, Liv was later seen without hers.
But wedding band or not, Liv has made it clear that her marriage is fine.
In response to a fan’s Instagram question, where they asked: “Where the helly is Brad?” Liv said on her story: “He’s alive I swear. 10 years of us. A lot has changed. Marriage is frikinnn hard (no one wants to say that part out loud) and I’m just not a faker.
“I’m not posting pictures if they don’t reflect our reality. We are doing our thing and if there are any more updates you will be the first to know.”
Olivia Attwood is looking to the future
In an interview with MailOnline, Liv reiterated these sentiments, saying that while their marriage is “not perfect”, things were ultimately fine.
“Me and Brad never pretend to have a perfect relationship, we have been up, down, left, backwards, and the last six months have been really challenging for us,” she said.
“My work and his work take precedence over everything. We have to navigate our relationship all the time. It’s the boring side of being an adult in a long-term relationship. We constantly have to work at it and that’s just the truth. No one else really wants to say that part out loud but it is difficult at times. It’s great to post a picture on Instagram but we’re transparent people and it’s not always like that.”
On the Pete saga, Liv added: “I completely understand why he was a bit miffed but it was never as deep as anyone made out. People were like: ‘Oh my God, they’re getting a divorce because Pete hugged her,’ but that’s not the case. Also, Pete is hugging me, I was just there!
“‘It was just a holiday to Ibiza, who knew it would cause so much trouble?”
Olivia Attwood asks a psychic for advice about marriage to husband Bradley
Speaking on her The Sunday Roast Reheated podcast with co-host Pete this week, Olivia asked: “What’s coming in my love life this year, are things going to get better?”
Psychic Deborah replied: “It does feel slightly unsettled at the moment but mostly okay for you, a little bit up and downy but it will settle. I have a feeling that you might be having a baby in the near future.”
Olivia joked: “Who’s the dad?” “Hopefully your husband, it’s going to be a little girl,” said Deborah.
Olivia added: “Well I’ll have to keep my legs closed. Deborah, every medium has ever told me that it’s going to be a girl and that it’s going to be the absolute image of me.”
You can catch Olivia on the latest episode of Celebrity Catchphrase on ITVX.
Read More: Loose Women star Olivia Attwood opens up about relationship struggles: ‘It’s ok to walk away
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