Olivia Attwood admits her marriage to Bradley Dack has faced a ‘challenging’ six months and she understands why the footballer was ‘upset’ seeing pictures of her cosying up to Pete Wicks in Ibiza.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail for the first time since the pictures emerged, the former Love Island star, 34, reiterated that her and Brad’s relationship is ‘not perfect’ but insisted they are still very much together – and that she and Pete are just good friends and work colleagues.
Last week Strictly star Pete, 36, was snapped with his arm draped around bikini-clad Olivia on a yacht during a drunken boat party on the White Isle and the image promoted a backlash online, as well as unsavoury chants aimed at Bradley, 31, by football fans watching him play for League Two side Gillingham.
The pictures even sparked a feud with Olivia’s closest pal Ryan Kay, her former assistant, who has reportedly cut the TV presenter out of his life completely.
But opening up about the furore which sparked numerous headlines, Olivia insists both her and Bradley are determined to overcome what she describes as ‘difficult times’ sparked by their incredibly busy work schedules.
The Loose Women star said: ‘Me and Brad never pretend to have a perfect relationship, we have been up, down, left, backwards, and the last six months have been really challenging for us.
Olivia Attwood admits her marriage to Bradley Dack has faced a ‘challenging’ six months and she ‘gets’ why the footballer was ‘upset’ seeing pictures of her cosying up to Pete Wicks
Speaking to the Daily Mail for the first time since the pictures emerged, the TV star reiterated that her and Brad’s relationship is ‘not perfect’ but insisted they are still very much together
Opening up about the furore which sparked numerous headlines, Olivia insists both her and Bradley are determined to overcome what she describes as ‘difficult times’
‘My work and his work take precedence over everything, we have to navigate our relationship all the time.
‘It’s the boring side of being an adult in a long term relationship, we constantly have to work at it and that’s just the truth.
‘No one else really wants to say that part out loud but it is difficult at times.
‘It’s great to post a picture on Instagram but we’re transparent people and it’s not always like that, there are ups and downs, there are things on his side which haven’t been great, there’s a mix of things. I have f***ed up and done stuff, Brad has f***ed up. It’s really easy to pretend you’re perfect but no one is if you just dig a little deeper.’
On Bradley’s reaction to seeing Olivia pictured with former TOWIE lothario Pete who had his hand on her thigh, she added: ‘I get why Brad didn’t like it, we were all on the boat, drinking and hugging each other and being best friends, it was family vibes.
‘But if it was the other way around, of course I wouldn’t like it either, me and Brad are very similar people, we were drawn together because we’re both quite out there personality wise, we know how to have fun.
‘But I completely understand why he was a bit miffed but it was never as deep as anyone made out.
‘People were like, oh my God, they’re getting a divorce because Pete hugged her but that’s not the case. Also, Pete is hugging me, I was just there!’
Last week Strictly star Pete was snapped with his arm draped around bikini-clad Olivia on a yacht during a drunken boat party on the White Isle and the image promoted a backlash online
Olivia and Bradley married in London two years ago after rekindling their romance following the star’s 2017 appearance on Love Island
She continued: ‘It was just a holiday to Ibiza, who knew it would cause so much trouble?
‘I was there with KISS, which is why Pete was there and we were hosting for them, we hosted an O beach event and a couple of my pals joined and we had a few extra days.’
Olivia and Pete, whose ex-girlfriend is former Love Island star Maura Higgins, were signed up as a new presenting duo by the Global station back in March and have their own weekly show.
As well as broadcasting for KISS, Olivia is also one of the Loose Women, presents This Morning, has her own podcast So Wrong, It’s Right, a documentary series called The Price of Perfection, as well as her ITV2 dating show Bad Boyfriends.
Given her heavy workload, Olivia feels she’s justified letting her hair down and refuses to burn her love of partying just because she’s in the public eye.
She explained: ‘I make no secret of this, I know most people in this industry like to pretend that they are so vanilla but I am very professional at work, I work really f***ing hard, and I like to let my hair down, I have never shied away from that. I was having fun.
Given her heavy workload, Olivia feels she’s justified letting her hair down and refuses to burn her love of partying just because she’s in the public eye
Olivia and Pete were signed up as a new presenting duo on KISS back in March and have their own weekly show
Fans began to question the nature of their relationship following a party holiday in Ibiza last week where the two were seen looking close
‘I had the best time, why would I ever not want to be having fun? That’s what I want to do.’
On the criticism she received after the pictures with Pete went viral, she added: ‘I am fine with the backlash, on Instagram and my followers, they love the party content and in terms of articles there are lots of good sides to this job and it’s a huge privilege and that’s one of the sides, you have to take the bad with the good.
‘People are going to comment and commentate and speculate and I know what I signed up for when I pursued this career. I don’t deep it on that level, I really don’t. I understand that it’s harder for people around me… it’s not what they signed up for but I’m fine.’
Olivia insists the scandal has ‘blown over’ in regards to herself and Brad, who are now trying to plan spending their own time together which is tough, given her work diary and his busy fixture list.
She added: ‘It blew over. We are trying to plan how we can spend some time together, which would be nice.
‘We’re back to normal life. I have been back a while now, he’s been at work, he’s really flat out with two games a week and I’m flat out working. We don’t dwell on things too long in our household.’
Olivia jokes speculation around her closeness with Pete has provided handy publicity for the second series of her reality show Bad Boyfriends, which sees the star expose cheating partners and help a cast of couples overcome their relationship issues.
She said: ‘The irony is not lost on me… I don’t want to upset anyone or make anyone feel disappointed in me but the irony was not lost.’
Olivia jokes speculation around her closeness with Pete has provided handy publicity for the second series of her reality show Bad Boyfriends
Season two, which begins on September 14, sees eight couples attempt to navigate their problems with Olivia at the helm, as she reflects on taming on her own Bad Boyfriend
Bad Boyfriends is inspired by former Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland star Bradley, who cheated on Olivia during the early stages of their relationship which prompted her to go on Love Island in 2017 seeking revenge.
The move certainly paid off for Olivia as she turned into one of the show’s biggest success stories, even rekindling her relationship with Bradley, marrying in 2023 during a glittering London ceremony.
Season two, which begins on September 14, sees eight couples attempt to navigate their problems with Olivia at the helm, as she reflects on taming on her own Bad Boyfriend during the opening credits.
On Monday, she celebrated the series launch with a 200 person screening, which was attended by Bradley, saying: ‘It was so special and I feel really lucky we have done a few good ones.
‘It’s very cool to watch people see what we have made. It’s quite a unique experience. The reactions were everything we hoped they could be. My involvement goes deeper than your average host and you see the behind the scenes, the cameras, the fourth wall is broken and you just don’t see that on many shows.’
This year, couples on the show are struggling with a range of issues including infidelity and betrayal and for the first time Olivia has introduced a same sex partnership to the cast, with themes of identity and sexuality also explored.
She said: ‘With the second series we’ve had so much more scope to go deeper with things, we had more confidence and went deeper with what the show is and what it can be. The casting this series is exceptional and every story is so unique.
‘Having a same sex couple was very important to me and they had a very interesting story. Many men in the gay community will be able to relate to their storyline, it’s a very challenging thing to be your authentic self and how it impacts your relationship, we haven’t seen that story told on TV before so I think it’s really valuable.
‘Casting is hard and when you go into same sex couples the pool gets even smaller. My whole life outside of work is gay men, I have been raised by gay men practically so it’s something I feel very passionate about.’
And given her understanding towards how difficult navigating a relationship can be, Olivia never has any judgements towards the male members of her cast, who have all been nominated for their poor behaviour by their long-suffering partners.
She added: ‘I never went my cast and the boys on my show to feel like I’m on a pedestal and I’m holier-than-thou, no one is perfect and people do things which aren’t perfect all the time. The way the boys don’t completely fear me and run away from staying on my show is because I always meet them at a level.’
