Former boxing champion and I’m A Celebrity star Tony Bellew might have faced fierce opponents in the ring, but the one person he says truly keeps him in check is his wife, Rachael Bellew.
As the boxing champ appears on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? tonight (May 22), fans are curious about the woman who’s been in his corner since day one.
From humble beginnings to fame and fortune, their love story spans decades.
Tony Bellew’s romance with wife Rachael Bellew
Tony and Rachael’s story began on the same street in Merseyside, where they were childhood neighbours and classmates. But their romance didn’t blossom until years later.
At 18, Bellew was working as a bouncer at a nightclub when he spotted Rachael dancing. He was immediately smitten.
According to The Sun, he asked her out three times before she finally agreed.
“Rachael told him that if he wasn’t the perfect gentleman to her on the date, he’d blow his only chance,” a source revealed. “Right from the off, it was clear to him that she was a strong woman who didn’t take any nonsense.”
Their first date was simple: a milkshake and a trip to the cinema. But it marked the beginning of a lifelong bond.
Long before Bellew became a world champion, he was fighting for every penny.
As an amateur, he earned just £100 per fight and juggled multiple jobs, including security, retail work, lifeguarding and even a stint at a pillow factory, to stay afloat.
But Rachael stood by him through it all. Unlike others dazzled by fame or wealth, she wasn’t materialistic.
She believed in his potential and remained unwavering through the lean years. It wasn’t until 2007 that Bellew finally turned professional, and everything changed.
He once told The Guardian: “We lived on the same street, went to the same school. She’s been there through it all.”
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‘I’ve been through everything with this girl’
The couple tied the knot in 2018 at the fairy-tale Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, after welcoming their three sons – Corey, Cobey and Carter.
Rachael, a trained beautician, eventually became a full-time mum, choosing to support her husband’s demanding career while raising their boys.
In public, Tony has never shied away from expressing just how much she means to him.
In a July 2024 anniversary Instagram post, he shared a series of images and wrote: “I’ve been through everything with this girl and couldn’t have done or achieved anything without her! The day we came together was the most important day of my life. I love ya more than you know [Rachael], oh and I’m looking forward to play golf twice this week luv…”
Fans were quick to celebrate their relationship, with one commenting: “A good example of when you pick the right partner, everything is possible. Happy anniversary, you two.”
‘I’m more frightened of my missus than you’
Although Tony is known for his tough-guy image, he’s been candid about who really scares him, and it’s not anyone in the ring.
Ahead of one fight, he famously told an opponent: “I’m more frightened of my missus than you. I wouldn’t [bleep]ing dare cross her, I wouldn’t mess with her. I will say one thing: I fear no man, I would fight any man. I tell you what, though, I don’t go home to her with a penny short.”
He added: “She’s my toughest fight. I said this [fight] would be my last one. That’s a real fight, persuading her if I can carry on.”
The boxer once revealed that Rachael even threatened to divorce him if he took another fight.
“If I don’t stop after this, then she is going to divorce me, and I have only been married four or five months.”
That moment came during their honeymoon, when Tony was caught watching Oleksandr Usyk’s fight on his phone.
When Usyk called out Tony’s name, he knew he had to respond, but not without Rachael’s blunt reaction.
“Tell him to [bleep] off,” she reportedly told Tony when promoter Eddie Hearn called.
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Tony Bellew on I’m A Celebrity
In 2023, Bellew took on a new challenge: the I’m A Celebrity jungle. But it wasn’t his idea.
“This is going to be very hard, and I am apprehensive,” he admitted in a statement to ITV. “I had to think long and hard about doing it because it is so out of my comfort zone. It was my missus who talked me around to doing it.”
Now 42, Tony Bellew is enjoying retired life with the woman he’s loved since childhood.
Catch Tony Bellew on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Wednesday, May 22 at 9pm on ITV1.
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