IT’S hard to believe that I first met Olivia Attwood nearly 10 years ago and in that time, I’ve gotten to know her pretty well and would consider her a mate.
I was gutted to hear the sad news that she had split from her husband Bradley Dack after just two years of marriage after a “breach of trust” in the relationship – and I know why the split will have hit her especially hard.
I was one of the first journalists to jet out to Majorca to interview Olivia, 34, the day before she entered the Love Island villa in 2017.
At the time she told me: “I’m looking for fun but I always fall in love. I’m boy crazy. I’m like a kid in a candy shop”
Olivia had originally turned down Love Island as she was dating Bradley at the time, who she met through mutual friends in a nightclub in 2015.
But then she had a phone call from a random girl saying she was also dating the footballer, so she decided to go on the reality show ‘for revenge’ and have a summer of fun.
She told me about the footballer before going into the villa saying: “I was with a guy before and I thought I had found The One but I had not.”
She added she had “no fears he would speak out about their relationship while she was in the show”.
Olivia was just as savvy then as she is now knowing that the show – which was only growing in popularity – could be a life changing experience for her. And, of course, it was.
She was keen to meet someone too, but was realistic that she was still young and that anyone she met on the show probably wasn’t going to be ‘forever’.
She added: “Looking for a husband would be a big ask. I’m 25 but I’m not desperate but in the next couple of years that’s something I’ll be looking for. I want another couple of years of being wild because I’ve just got used to looking after myself before I have to look after someone else.”
After finishing third on the show with then-boyfriend Chris Hughes, they set up home together in Surrey – complete with reality show cameras in tow to capture all the drama.
I bumped into them at V Festival in Essex as well as several red carpets including the Specsavers Glasses of the Year Awards.
They were often bickering so I wasn’t really surprised when they went their separate ways at the start of 2018.
And no one was shocked when she reunited with Bradley shortly afterwards.
Speaking later, Olivia said: “When Brad and I were together the first time around… I do say we were in a committed relationship and he 100 per cent was wrong for that [cheating on her]. It wasn’t the serious relationship we obviously went on to be in.”
‘We row about little things’
It still wasn’t plain sailing for the couple – they briefly split in April 2019 with Olivia admitting at the time she found it hard to trust him.
Olivia told new! magazine: “We row about little things, like house-related things. I’m very OCD and he’s very messy. I’ve also got a long way to go with trust. That’s my own issue more than his. I don’t think you should trust any man 100 per cent.”
But then in October, they were looking rock solid and Olivia shared sweet snaps of the couple on a beach in Dubai after the footballer popped the question. Alongside the photos, she wrote: “He must be crazy… Here’s to forever. I love you BD.”
Between Covid and Bradleys’ football season, the couple found it difficult to find time to tie the knot and kept pushing their wedding date back. But Olivia finally had her dream wedding wearing a £30K dress in the Bulgari hotel in Knightsbridge, London in June 2023.
It seemed like everything was finally falling into place for them as Olivia’s popularity went from strength to strength.
She was being dubbed the new diamond in ITV’s crown and bosses were hoping she would be the next Holly Willoughby.
As well as landing a slot presenting on This Morning and a place on the Loose Women panel, she also has a number of TV show smashes including Bad Boyfriend, The Price of Perfection and Getting Filthy Rich as well as upcoming cooking show, The Heat.
But while she was flying high professionally, last summer she and Bradley were besieged with rumours that their marriage was in trouble especially when Olivia was pictured partying in Ibiza with podcast co-presenting pal Pete Wicks.
But days later Olivia told me at the launch of her reality show Bad Boyfriends at the Ham Yard in London [where Bradley turned up to support her] that they were totally fine and that Bradley just worried about her going out drinking too much because he wasn’t there to look after her. She even joked that she was a “bad wife” for working so much.
What I love about Olivia is she never shies away from being open about her life.
During a discussion about people asking if she was going to have children on her Fabulous Magazine cover shoot last May, she said: “I feel like I’ve entered into this relationship with the public where everything is for sale!
“I had my wedding on telly. I’m very open on social media, so I think it’s natural that people will be curious.
“In general, should we be constantly asking women about children? No, but I put myself in a different box. It’s like these celebrities that sell their whole relationship, then they break up and ask for privacy. No, absolutely not. We are invested,” she laughed.
And despite her and Bradley’s busy careers, things appeared to be back on track in their personal lives.
I last caught up with Olivia over some very potent margaritas at the launch of her River Island range at the Mistress of Mayfair in London – and she and Bradley looked really happy and loved-up which is why I know the decision to leave her marriage would have been a hard one for her.
Away from the spotlight, Olivia and I have talked about how much we love our families over the years. She absolutely dotes on her parents, Jennifer and Kai, who are still together as well as her sister, Georgia and brother, Max.
I’ve no doubt she would have wanted to emulate her mum and dad who still seem to be completely smitten with each other even after more than three decades together.
As the news of the split broke, Olivia was in Hamburg, Germany, celebrating her dad’s birthday. I’m glad that she has her family around her, as I know she will be totally heartbroken.