Mollie

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

POP star Mollie King has admitted that the birth of her daughter Annabella was a bittersweet moment for her family.

She and cricket star Stuart Broad welcomed Annabella, now three, in November 2022 – at a time Mollie’s father Stephen was dying from a brain tumour.

The Saturdays singer-turned-Radio 1 host has revealed that the sad circumstances gave her the incentive to book a C-section for the birth – to make sure Stephen would be able to meet his granddaughter before he passed.

Stephen died 10 days later, but got to meet Annabella thanks to Mollie’s decision.

Chatting to Giovanna Fletcher on the Happy Mum podcast this week, Mollie, 38, revealed that she learnt of her father’s illness when she was six months pregnant.

“It happened in August. And I had seen my dad that morning. We had gone out for a walk with my dog and with Stuart as well. And everything seemed pretty fine, pretty normal,” she recalled.

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“And then that evening, I had a call from my sister to say Dad’s not been very well at all – he’s gone into hospital.

“I was like, Oh my gosh. Basically, over the next few days, we got the news that he had a brain tumour, which is obviously shocking because there was nothing – there were no signs.

“And you just don’t know how to process it.”

Mollie went on: “I think that I was trying to really get my head around it and come to terms with it. But also, I’m in this stage of like – I’m pregnant, this is meant to be such a magical happy time.

“I was really worried that he wasn’t going to meet Annabella. I was like, I can’t have him not meet my kids.”

Mollie – who has since welcomed a second daughter – reflected on how her father had been a very “present granddad” for her nephews, and couldn’t picture her own child never knowing him.

“I was like, I just can’t have him not meet my little girl. It can’t be like that,” she continued. “And so… because of that… I’d booked in to have a C-section.

“I was like, I just need to know that she is going to come out at a safe time, but I need her to meet dad.”

Mollie admotted that, after she made the decision, she felt self-conscious telling the hospital staff of her reasons; but that they were happy to accommodate the C-section, booking her in for it right away.

Mollie was one fifth of The Saturdays – they released four studio albums and 18 singles between 2008 and 2014 before going on hiatus. Mollie then turned to radio presenting.

She welcomed her second daughter, Liliana, with Stuart in January 2025.