James Haskell's mortifying mishap before he knew about Chloe Madeley's famous parents
James Haskell has revealed an awkward moment when he first started dating ex-wife Chloe Madeley.
James Haskell had no idea his ex-wife Chloe's dad was Richard Madeley.
The 41-year-old TV star and former rugby player has recalled the first moment he went back to her famous parents' home, and he was baffled by a photo of the This Morning legend on the wall.
Appearing on the No Parental Guidance podcast, he said: "I love Richard and Judy, they're great, they were always really nice to me.
"I didn't know Chloe was their daughter until I went on a date with her and it was the first night we spent together.
"She took me back to her parents' house and I remember there was a picture of Richard on the wall."
James, whose marriage to Chloe ended in 2023, admitted he actually thought she had a photo on show because Richard was her type.
He added: "I thought Chloe's into a bit of kinky s***, I was like I don't look anything like that guy, he's tall, dark and handsome and I was like this isn't going to last.
"So I got back into bed and I was like, 'Why have you got a picture of Richard Madeley on the wall?' and she was like, 'He's my dad' and I was like, 'Right, OK.' "
The date went well enough that the couple got married in 2018 before welcoming daughter Bodhi into the world in 2022, a year before their breakup.
James told This Morning: "Chloe is an amazing mum, an amazing woman. She is so talented and smart, and brilliant at what she does.
"When you get separated, obviously, because we live our lives in the public eye in some respect, basically you put yourself out there and sometimes people look to you to see how you behave in those situations, and for me, when you separate, the priority always becomes the child and your egos don't matter.
"We're able to co-parent in a way, sometimes is good, sometimes is bad, that's what happens. But we do it constructively for our daughter."
Chloe previously described their split as "the worst breakup imaginable".
She told the No Parental Guidance podcast: "Me and my ex husband, as much as we had the worst breakup imaginable when our marriage fell apart, we've managed to co-parent respectfully throughout all the trauma and toxicity, and it was a lot."
She admitted "one of the many, many reasons" they broke up was to stop their baby daughter from having to see them argue.
The couple had been together for more than a decade before they decided to part ways and she still remembers the exact moment she new their relationship was over.
Chloe told Olivia Attwood's So Wrong It's Right podcast: "I swear to God it was just like one day, I remember exactly where we were - I remember the day, the time, the temperature, the outfit, everything - I just remember like just saying it, 'I don't think that we should do this any more', but really meaning it and it kind of went from there.
"It doesn't just happen - it didn't for us anyway. It was farmed up as time passed, and it's still like that now."
