Billi Mucklow and Andy Carroll shocked fans by announcing they are set to divorce after secretly separating earlier this year.
The former TOWIE star, 36, and the footballer, 35, tied the knot in June 2022 in a lavish Hampshire ceremony, shortly after the groom was snapped passed out in bed between TWO blondes during his raucous Dubai stag-do.
After confirming the news of their separation this week, Billi appeared to be trying her best to keep their troubles under-wraps as she continued to shared loved-up snaps to social media.
Meanwhile, it was revealed Andy, who once played for Liverpool and Newcastle amongst other English top-flight sides, had signed for French fourth-tier club FC Girondins de Bordeaux, despite admitting that the move had ‘cost him money’.
Billi, who shares three-children with the footballer, stayed at their home in Essex while he left the UK to play for the lowly club.
Billi Mucklow, 36, and Andy Carroll, 35, kept their split a secret from fans for many months, with the TOWIE star continuing to share loved-up snaps with the footballer (pictured in June)
However, Billi appeared to be trying her best to keep their troubles under-wraps as she continued to shared loved-up snaps to social media (pictured in June)
Speaking to RMC Sport, who estimated his salary to be around 3,500 euros (£2,925) a month, Andy said: ‘It’s simply because I love football. To be honest, it even costs me money to have gone to play for the Girondins.
‘But I play football and I’m simply happy to play football. I want to be part of the history of this club and to be honest it’s not a question of money. In my career, it’s never been a question of money.’
Meanwhile, as he departed for France, Billi continued to share loved-up posts to her Instagram.
In one update from June 21, the couple smiled while attending the wedding of Newcastle goalkeeper Mark Gillespie and his wife Sally.
Billi looked incredible in a blue sequinned gown, with cut-out detailing, as she wrapped an arm around her husband’s waist.
In another post from the same weekend, Billi and Andy stood side-by-side before enjoying dinner on the Amalfi Coast in an update she captioned: ‘Beautiful Ravello.’
Andy said in a statement on Saturday: ‘Billi and I have privately separated earlier this year and we are under way with our divorce proceedings.
‘It has been a hard few months for our family and we continue to move forward amicably for our children.’
Meanwhile, it was revealed Andy, who once played for Liverpool amongst other English top-flight sides, had signed for French fourth-tier club Bordeaux, despite admitting that the move had ‘cost him money’ (pictured last week)
The former TOWIE star and the footballer tied the knot in June 2022 in a lavish Hampshire ceremony, and on Saturday it was claimed they’d ‘grown apart’ after 11 years
Andy and Billi married shortly after the groom was snapped passed out in bed between TWO blondes during his raucous Dubai stag-do (pictured)
Andy, who shares three-children with his estranged wife, said in a statement: ‘Billi and I have privately separated earlier this year and we are under way with our divorce proceedings’ (pictured at their 2022 wedding)
Meanwhile a source told The Sun: ‘Andy and Billi care about each other a lot and have made some great memories together, but decided it was best for the family if they went their separate ways having grown apart.
‘They’re still focusing on the kids and being the best parents they can be and being respectful of each other.’
The source added: ‘They want the process to be straightforward for everyone involved. Andy has been throwing himself into his football.’
MailOnline has contacted Billi and Andy’s reps for comment.
Ahead of their wedding, Andy was left red-faced after a photo was revealed in The Sun showing him laying in bed with a bar manager living in Dubai, 29-year-old Taylor Jane Wilkey from Scarborough.
More images later emerged revealing he was also asleep on the same bed alongside a second woman – Taylor’s friend, 28-year-old Phoebe Robb, a personal trainer from Leeds – following a 17-hour drinking session.
Photographs showed the footballer passed out as well as Taylor wearing his personalised bathrobe with ‘Andy Carroll’ embroidered on the chest.
Billi reportedly fled from the couple’s home following the antics and took refuge at her parents’ house, removing her £200,000 engagement ring in the run-up to the big day.
The publication reported at the time that that the reality star was demanding Andy ‘hand over everything’ in relation to the pictures before their wedding.
He said: ‘It has been a hard few months for our family and we continue to move forward amicably for our children’
Meanwhile a source said: ‘Andy and Billi care about each other a lot and have made some great memories together, but decided it was best for the family if they went their separate ways having grown apart’
Saying: ‘They’re still focusing on the kids and being the best parents they can be and being respectful of each other’.
They also added that Billi wanted to see every single image from the night in question to fully understand what happened.
A friend told MailOnline with her permission: ‘Billi thinks he’s an idiot, her entire friendship group feel the same.
‘They cannot believe he got himself into that situation and are convinced it’s a set up.’
They added: ‘She currently has no plans to call off the wedding, it’s still on.
‘But if anything else comes out, that might change.
‘Andy’s certainly in the doghouse, that’s for sure.’
The couple are parents to sons Arlo, nine, and Wolf, six, and daughter Marvel, four, alongside Andy’s children Emilie Rose, 15, and Lucas, 14, from a previous relationship.
They tied the knot at Hampshire’s five-star Four Seasons Hotel followed by a Coachella-themed party, which they dubbed Carroll Chella.
New bride Billi swapped her flowing wedding gown for a white feathered mini dress and silver cowboy boots as she let her hair down and danced with her husband for the second day of their wedding festivities at a festival style bash.
It came after the pair chose a traditional all-white theme for their lavish wedding ceremony at the five star hotel – and exchanged vows surrounded by displays of white roses during the ceremony, which took place in a spectacular 16th century walled garden.
Rows and rows of bottles of £100 champagne were discreetly lined up on trestle tables behind a tall hedge as cheers rang out from the congregation when the happy couple were declared man and wife.
Billi found fame on reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex in 2011, but quit reality TV two years later to run a Bikram yoga studio in Essex.
She started dating the Geordie footballer in the summer of 2013 but they kept their relationship under wraps until the following February.
They tied the knot at Hampshire’s five-star Four Seasons Hotel followed by a Coachella-themed party, which they dubbed Carroll Chella
It came after the pair chose a traditional all-white theme for their lavish wedding ceremony at the five star hotel – and exchanged vows surrounded by displays of white roses
=New bride Billi swapped her flowing wedding gown for a white feathered mini dress and silver cowboy boots as she let her hair down for the second day of their wedding festivities (pictured with sister Giorgia)
It would prove to be a transformative period for the footballer – by then on loan at London club West Ham United after moving from Newcastle to Liverpool in a £35million deal.
With Billi’s stabilising influence playing a significant role, the boozy off-field antics that threatened to overshadow a career already hampered by a catalogue of injuries were curtailed.
Indeed, the nightclub brawls, boozy nights out and off field assault allegations soon became consigned to memory as Andy underwent something of a rebrand – a change owed in no small part to partner.
He even followed her lead by taking up yoga, and speaking in 2019 the footballer credited Billi for helping him change his lifestyle.
‘I’ve got no doubt that I was daft when I was here, and no doubt that I was daft for a couple of years after as well,’ he told nufc.co.uk.
‘But I met my missus, and we’ve got four kids living at home now, we’ve got animals, we’ve got responsibilities. There’s no more behaviour like it was, you know. I was stupid, I was young, and I was carried away with the lifestyle that I had.
‘Now it’s completely different. I’m actually a dad, I’ve grown up, and got responsibilities, so… I’ve got a purpose.’