Mollie King

Celebrity Gogglebox couple Mollie King and Stuart Broad’s love story hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park

Mollie King and Stuart Broad make their Celebrity Gogglebox debut this week – but what do we know about their romance?

Singer Molly shot to fame as a member of chart-topping group The Saturdays, before becoming a TV and radio star. Stuart, meanwhile, is best known for being a cricketer before retiring from the sport in 2023.

The pair have been dating for several years, got engaged in 2021, and also share two children. So with Mollie and Stuart on Celebrity Gogglebox this week, we’re taking a look inside their romance.

Mollie and Stuart’s initial split

Mollie and Stuart started dating in 2012, but the relationship ended less than a year later. They eventually rekindled their romance, became engaged, and now share two children – but it nearly never got off the ground.

Stuart revealed that his demanding cricket schedule, combined with Mollie’s busy career, made maintaining their relationship extremely challenging. “Typical of young professionals, we were all over the place,” he wrote in his 2023 autobiography, Broadly Speaking.

“In early 2013, I flew off to India for some one-dayers and then on to New Zealand. Mollie went to film in Los Angeles, and despite really enjoying each other’s company, being at opposite ends of the world didn’t help us stay in touch.

“It is fair to say we were two people putting their careers first at that stage in our lives. I would never have guessed how big an impact she would have later on mine.”

Mollie and Stuart’s engagement

Fast forward to 2019 and Mollie and Stuart gave it another go – and their relationship took a decisive turn during a make-or-break trip to Paris, which helped them reconnect. Two years later, they got engaged.

To celebrate, Mollie shared snaps of the couple on Instagram, showing off her dazzling diamond engagement ring. She captioned the post: “A thousand times yes! I still can’t believe it, the most magical start to the new year! I can’t wait to spend all my years with you @stuartbroad.”

According to Stuart, though, the engagement almost never happened because someone was sitting on the bench where he planned to pop the question to Mollie.

“I was like, ‘Aaargghh!’ I gave him the eyes to suggest he moved on, but after doing another loop of the park, he was still there,” Stuart wrote in his autobiography.

“So I persuaded Mollie to go round once more. Next time, he’d gone. We had about 15 minutes of enjoying the moment together before we walked up to the highest point of the hill and, to Mollie’s surprise, we were greeted by her mum and dad, who I’d arranged to be standing waiting at the top so she could share the excitement of the moment with them.”

In 2022, Mollie gave birth to a daughter, Annabelle, while their second daughter, Liliana, arrived in January 2025.

Sad reason Molly has yet to plan wedding

Despite being engaged for a long time, Mollie recently revealed that she has been putting off marrying because she “can’t bear to think” about her wedding following the death of her father.

Her dad, Stephen, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2022, and he died in November of that year, just days after Mollie gave birth to her daughter, Annabella – and the singer has admitted she “struggles” to think about planning her big day without her father by her side.

“It [dad’s illness] happened so quickly, out of nowhere. I was in the final stage of the pregnancy, so it was incredibly tough. I’m so grateful Dad was able to meet my daughter and see me in this phase of my life,” she told The Times.

Mollie added, “I can’t bear to think about my wedding without Dad being there. Elements like walking down the aisle without him, I still struggle with. There needs to be a gap so I can process it all.”

Meanwhile, also talking about Mollie’s father’s death, Stuart wrote in his autobiography: “Sadly, he did not have long to live, and we felt that he was hanging on for Annabella’s arrival. It was of great comfort to Mollie that, despite this horrible disease, Steve was able to hold Annabella in his arms.

“He died, surrounded by his girls, 11 days after she was born. It was an unbelievably emotional time for Mollie — having the incredible joy at the birth of our beautiful baby while at the same time dealing with the grief of the devastating loss of her dad.

“I really don’t know how she managed it. I’m in awe of her inner strength and how she coped with both emotions.”

Celebrity Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4