JERMAINE Jenas’ wife Ellie described the past three months as “incredibly difficult” as she appeared in public for the first time since he was sacked by the BBC.
Former Match Of The Day presenter Jermaine, 41, issued a public apology to Ellie, the mother of three of his children, in The Sun in August after he was dismissed for sending inappropriate messages to women he worked with.
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Ellie appeared at the launch of her personal care brand Preppy today without her wedding ring.
She created Preppy, a specialist range for children and teens, with her business partner Steph Leggit.
Ellie said: “It has been an incredibly hard and difficult time for myself and my family.
“My only focus has been on our children and building my brand Preppy.
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“Now I just want to move forward.
“Naturally this has been hard for me but my only concern has been our children and that will not change.”
Speaking at the launch in London, Ellie added: “I have been working on this brand for three years and it is something I am incredibly proud of.”
Ellie, who was joined by two of the couple’s three children at the launch in Battersea, said she did not wish to discuss their 13-year-marriage but said Jermaine had been supportive of her decision to create the brand.
She said: “Jermaine is excited for the business and what it holds for me in the future.
“He has been supportive of me in this respect and as a working mum.”
Ellie, who has never courted publicity and has been married to Jermaine since June 2011, launched Preppy with Steph.
The pair pushed ahead with the launch of their website, with discussions with major retailers to stock their brands from the New Year.
Ellie said: “When I had my youngest son Jacob, who is now three, I wanted to bring out some kind of skincare for kids.
“And with Steph’s background in buying and retail for companies including Boots and Tesco we teamed up.
“We realised no one was making products for older children and more often than not they steal mine.
“We’ve started with self-care because, for example, there is no deodorant for kids. And shower-time can be quite boring.
“My kids love it. They’ve been like the guinea pigs for every brand.
“Like on day one, every time something comes home they’re trying it on and then we’ve been tweaking like the formulas, this, that.
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“Our daughter thought up the name Preppy.
“You know, on TikTok it’s like hashtag Preppy – it’s become a cult phrase.
“Like kids and teens want to do like their room Preppy, their skincare Preppy.
On TikTok, hashtag Preppy has got over one billion views.
“We actually weren’t sure if we were going to get the name either, but when we trademarked it, we got it.
“We had another name before that and now we’re like, ‘Thank God we didn’t use that. It was not right.”
At the launch of Preppy, Ellie was joined by her business partner Steph to introduce the products they have carefully worked on for the past three years.
The pair met through their husbands and started work on the products after the birth of Ellie’s youngest son.
It has been an incredibly hard and difficult time for myself and my family.
There are 15 products in the first drop of the range, which went live today online.
Tomorrow the products – which includes body and bath wash, deodorant, jelly wash and shower whip, will appear on a TikTok shop before being rolled out nationwide next year.
Ellie added: “Preppy launched on our website today and we’re talking to retailers.
“We are hoping that it’ll be in stores nationwide in the New Year.
“Preppy has been our baby for three years.
“This has been keeping me busy too as all the children are at school now.
“It’s time now, the kids, I’m like, ‘You’ve had me for years’.
“Before I could go to everything but now I am juggling the children and meetings.
“It’s just brilliant and I’m enjoying it.”
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The Sun first revealed how Jermaine had been dismissed from the BBC over his conduct in March.
He was sacked on a Zoom call with BBC bosses who read out messages he had sent to women at BBC Sport and The One Show which were deemed inappropriate.
Jermaine said: “I was in shock at the time, there was a lot to process.
“But I’m the married one, I’m at fault.
“The overriding panic by a mile was that I could lose my family.
“There’s something in me that’s praying there is some level of mercy or understanding of the fact we’re human beings and we all make mistakes, some bigger than others and mine is a big mistake.”
He went on to say of his wife: “Ellie is absolutely raging.
“She’s human.
“When I see her now, she is just making sure the children are okay.”
Jermaine insisted he had done nothing illegal and said his actions had been unwise.
He went on to apologise if he made the women he had messaged feel uncomfortable.