Maria Fowler and Kelvin Batey tied the knot seven years agoCredit: InstagramThe TOWIE alum showed off her huge ring as she revealed her and Kelvin had married in secretCredit: THE SUN
Maria and Kelvin Batey described the event as the “happiest day of our lives,” as she showed off her huge sparkler.
Now, it’s been revealed that the pair have gone their separate ways with Maria questioning “how it all went so wrong.”
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A source close to Maria told The Sun: “Maria and Kelvin decided to call it quits at the start of the summer.
“It was a really tough decision but Maria ultimately felt like she wanted more.”
It seems Maria had big plans for her future but didn’t quite see how Kelvin would fit into them.
The source continued: “She has been really successful in business recently and it made her realise she could cope without him.
“It hasn’t been the easiest of transitions but they are getting there. Maria has been incredibly emotional, but has thrown herself into work.
“It’s when she’s not working that she is struggling and questioning how it went so wrong.”
Maria and Kelvin share two daughters – Evie and NellieCredit: InstagramThe 40-year-old shot to fame after joining appearing on TOWIE in 2010Credit: WireImage
The mum-of-two, who has taken a step back from the limelight in recent years, got engaged to Kelvin in 2017.
They wed at the Nunsmere Hall Hotel and went on to enjoy a minimoon in Bowness Bay Marina, Windermere.
Maria said at the time: “So this happened yesterday… we got married!
“The happiest day of our lives. What an absolutely incredible day surrounded by Incredible people.
“We had an intimate ceremony which was full of tears, laughs and sentiment.”
The former couple share two children – Evie, nine, and Nellie, five.
Maria, 40, shot to fame after appearing on TOWIE in 2010 – when the show first launched.
Known for being ‘The GC’ on screen and larger than life, viewers will see a different side to Gemma Collins in her new Sky documentary series.
Gemma Collins has not had a lot to celebrate whilst making her Sky series.
Gemma Collins admits she has had “the worst year of her life” which corresponded with a time she had cameras following her every move.
The former TOWIE star, also known by her celebrity persona ‘GC’, and was due to get married to partner Rami and start a family during filming for Sky documentary series called ‘Gemma Collins: Everything. All At Once’. The series was originally called Four Weddings and a Baby, but as Gemma admits “things didn’t go to plan”.
Her relationship with Rami has had issues, the pair have also been sadly unable to conceive, and worst of all Gemma’s beloved mum Joan died at the end of July after several years of health issues. Admitting her life and TV series hasn’t been going to plan, 45-year-old Gemma said: “Mum’s been unwell for sixteen years and I’ve been dealing with that on the side, but her health started going downhill during filming and she passed away last month[actually July 2026].
“My fiancé Rami has also been struggling with his mental health and using alcohol to cope, and on top of that we had fertility issues. It was like drowning. It was the worst year of my life. I couldn’t keep hiding it.
“Being The GC was escapism. I could put the make-up on, get the hair big, and forget what was going on in the real world. But there’s been a real turn in media where people want to see the real me again. They’re sick of the bluff. I’m not afraid and I know I don’t need to deal with all this on my own.”
In the eight part series viewers will see Gemma embark on her fertility journey, and she questions whether she has left things too late, putting her career before having a family. On trying for a baby Gemma says: “Rami and I went to the Portland, and I started thinking maybe there could be a miracle. We could get an egg donor and make it work. But, as you’ll see on the show, it got increasingly difficult.
“I still have Tristan, and my nephews. I’ve known Tristan since he was three: I did his nappies, I gave him his bottles. I love that boy. With my mum gone, I’m going to be the mum of the family now, the matriarch, and I’m really happy and excited for that. If it’s meant to happen, my mum will send it to me, and a miracle will happen. If it doesn’t, I’m at peace with that.”
Gemma admitted she found filming on some days very hard but insisted she had to continue. The other deeply personal issue in the series is the loss of her mum Joan, and Gemma allows the cameras into moments like when she deals like this and when the bravado she usually uses on screen drops.
She said: “The camera crews are at your house and you’re thinking, ‘This is my life, it’s so s**t. How can I let people see it?’. But unless you go through hard times, I don’t think you grow as a person. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s also the thing I’m most proud of.”
On her mum Gemma added: “My mum passed away peacefully, and we were all in the room. She’s come back to me in so many ways already, which gives me great comfort. She comes back to me in spiritual ways and sends me signs. There was this butterfly in the house towards the last few days of my mum living, and it wouldn’t go away. When she passed, Tristan went to me, ‘There’s Nanny’. He went, ‘Nanny, if that’s you, flap your wings ten times,’ and it did.”
* Gemma Collins: Everything. All At Once launches 15 September on Sky and streaming service NOW.
SHE’S long been known as one of Towie’s most fiery personalities, but Ella Rae Wise has now broken her silence on a fresh fallout with a co-star – and revealed exactly what’s going on behind the scenes with an ex she once couldn’t be in the same room as.
Speaking to The Sun, the 26-year-old lifted the lid on the real story behind her rocky relationship with former best friend Dani Imbert, addressed another friendship that has quietly crumbled away from the cameras, and explained what it’s actually like filming alongside ex Dan Edgar these days.
Ella Rae Wise, left, and Dani Imbert were once part of Towie’s tightest inner circleCredit: GettyThe pair’s friendship has now fizzled out for good, Ella saysCredit: Getty
When it comes to Dani, Ella insists there was never one big bust-up, but rather a realisation that the loyalty she was giving out wasn’t being returned.
She said: “I would just say we decided not to be friends anymore. I don’t really know why on her behalf, but for me people always scream loyalty, but when the shoe is on the other foot, loyalty probably isn’t that strong towards me.
“But I’m the one that needs to be seen to have loyalty everywhere and cut my nose off to spite my face. With this specific friendship, she was okay doing what she wanted to do behind my back with people who didn’t like me.
“So, it wasn’t a mirrored friendship. It was one-sided is how I feel. With time going on, I think I prepared myself for this… I could see it coming.”
Ella and Dani first became close after Dani joined the show in 2021, quickly forming an inseparable trio alongside Junaid Ahmed that dominated cast trips, nights out and red carpet appearances for the best part of two years.
Matters were made worse when Dani and Junaid began socialising with Chloe Brockett – Ella’s long-running nemesis on the show – something Ella viewed as the ultimate betrayal, accusing Dani during fiery on-screen rows of being spineless and easily led by Junaid.
The pair did appear to patch things up by March 2024, but Ella admits the relationship never really recovered, and their apparent truce hasn’t lasted.
In a teaser shared on Towie’s socials with Ella and her co-star Jodie Wells, Ella reflected on a moment where she found herself defending Dani in her absence, saying: “I defended her in a room she wasn’t in with Jonnie… why was I being so nice?”
Jodie pointed out that Ella had been “really defending Dani… which is really nice considering she wasn’t being that much of a friend to you at that time,” before asking where things stand between them now.
Ella replied: “I’d say the friendship is probably quite non-existent. I didn’t ever think I’d be in this position with Dani. We’ve fell out before and we always made a pact that we wouldn’t fall out again.”
But it seems the girls have gone back on their word, with Ella adding: “I don’t see where the friendship can go,” while Jodie suggested: “Maybe you’ve outgrown each other.”
Asked by The Sun whether she and Dani have fallen out again, Ella made her feelings clear, admitting there’s little chance of a reunion this time round.
The pair have now settled into two firmly separate camps within the cast, with Dani remaining closely aligned with Freddie Bentley, while Ella sticks by her pal Harry Derbidge.
The two groups manage to film together during big cast scenes and parties, but rarely mix on a personal level.
Dani isn’t the only co-star Ella has fallen silent with, though.
She also confirmed she and former best friend Freddie are no longer on speaking terms, telling us bluntly: “No. I’m alright with it, though. I don’t feel any type of way about it.”
Ella and Freddie were close pals long before Freddie officially joined the show and, when he did make his debut, he wasted no time stepping up as one of Ella’s fiercest defenders on screen, backing her throughout her dramatic falling out with Dani and Junaid.
The two became practically inseparable, filming together constantly and championing one another in the media, but their bond hit a wall during a Towie Christmas special when an explosive row – fuelled by shifting group loyalties and Ella’s closeness with Harry Derbidge, who already had history with Freddie, triggered a complete breakdown in their friendship.
Freddie later confirmed on GK Barry’s podcast Saving Grace last year that the pair were “not friends” anymore, and while the two briefly appeared to patch things up during a cast trip to Vietnam earlier this year, secondary drama involving Saffron Lempriere and Elma Pazar reignited old tensions, with a frustrated Freddie quitting the trip early and flying home.
Freddie has since buried the hatchet with Harry but, as Ella’s own words confirm, his friendship with her shows no sign of being repaired heading into the new series.
Dani and Freddie are far from the only names on Ella’s list, either – the star has built up something of a reputation over the years for falling out with those closest to her.
Ella has also fallen silent with former best friend Freddie BentleyCredit: ITVbeThough it’s not all feuds for the star – as she admits things with ex Dan Edgar are now ‘amicable’Credit: ITV
Her rivalry with Chloe Brockett remains one of her longest-running and most explosive, with the pair’s friendship collapsing not long after they joined the show together in 2019 when Ella began dating Chloe’s ex, Harry Lee – a feud that has seen the two repeatedly clash on camera ever since, each branding the other insincere.
Her fallout with Junaid also stemmed from that same Cyprus trip, with Ella accusing him of being controlling and toxic and of deliberately turning mutual friends against her.
Meanwhile her relationship with Amber Turner has been fraught since 2022, when Ella claimed Amber’s then-boyfriend (and her now-ex) Dan Edgar behaved inappropriately towards her on a night out. The feud reignited in 2024 once Amber and Dan split and Ella and Dan struck up a holiday fling of their own while filming in Bali.
Which brings us to the one relationship that, remarkably, appears to be going in a positive direction.
Despite that turbulent history, Ella insists she and Dan have found a way to move past their issues, telling us: “We’re literally amicable, polite to each other, keep it moving. And it’s easy because we’re in the same group.
“The boys banter it and break up the awkwardness. It’s been fine. This series has really been a good series for me. I’m feeling comfortable around everyone.”
It’s a far cry from the tension that once defined their dynamic, after Ella and Dan’s relationship first hit headlines in Bali following his split from Amber.
Things later boiled over during the cast trip to Vietnam for season 36 when Courtney Green accused Dan of “flirting” with Ella and being disrespectful to his then girlfriend Chloe Lewis.
But with their wider friendship group having shifted considerably since then, the pair have settled into a far calmer footing – something Dan himself has previously credited to their mutual closeness with Jodie Wells and James “Diags” Bennewith.
As for her own life away from the group dramas, Ella tells us this series has marked a real turning point in how she feels in herself.
She said: “It’s been fun. It’s been nice to do different things and have happy moments. This series is so different. So much better.
“The change is probably how I feel in myself. I think I needed to focus on how I feel in myself to be able to get over things. So, I did that, and yeah, I’m over it!”
The Towie favourite told us how she’s in a much better place within herself this seriesCredit: GettyElla has found happiness with new boyfriend Ricky. The pair have sparked rumours of an engagement after Ella was pictured with a gold band in Marbella, pictured aboveCredit: fernemccann/Instagram
She added that rebuilding her confidence has come from learning to love herself again and leaning on easier, less intense friendships, saying: “I think it’s more finding love for yourself again. That comes in time, doesn’t it… And the friends you have around you. That’s changed.
“I have a lot more easy-going friendships. They’re not hard work. We don’t have to be attached to each other 24/7. We’ve all got our own lives. It’s been good.”
