Chloe Madeley 'happy and putting herself first' a year on from James Haskell split

Chloe Madeley and James Haskell announced their split a year ago, after viewers saw the cracks in their marriage laid bare on the couple's family reality show

This time last year, fans of their family reality show - Chloe Madeley: A Family Affair - were witnessing some intense exchanges between Chloe Madeley and James Haskell, which were later discovered to be the final days of their marriage. The pair, who tied the knot in 2018 and became parents four years later, were seen in several challenging scenes on their popular ITV show, filmed before their official split announcement.

As the fractures in their relationship were exposed - with James even claiming his now ex treated him "like a dog" during the series' finale - and almost exactly a year ago this week, they announced their separation, stating that constant speculation about their marital status had forced them to reveal the news earlier than planned. Now, as the one-year breakup anniversary hits and after Chloe discussed the "tricky" task of co-parenting two year old Bodhi, a source tells OK! that Chloe has decided to prioritise her happiness.

"It's clear to see she's in a really positive place," they said. "Her coaching business is really successful and in this time she's healed and grown so much. She realised she put up with a lot during her marriage and now that it's firmly in the past, this is her time to put herself first and be happy. "She knows the split was the right thing for them both and she's finally getting to do what she's always wanted to do, which she had put on hold when James was abroad and touring as a DJ."

Chloe, a fitness guru and daughter of TV personalities Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, previously opened up to OK! about her decision to keep the details of her tumultuous marriage under wraps. She expressed her desire to leave the "awful" relationship in the past", reports OK!.

"I'm never going to go into great detail about why we broke up because it's not fair on anyone and I wouldn't want him to either, but what I will say is it was f*****g awful," she shared. "Part of the reason we wanted to end it was because we wanted it to stop being awful, so why would we then take that into a break up and it continue being awful?!"

After their split, the couple continued to share a home for several months, but it's believed they now live separately. In a springtime chat with Chloe, she confirmed that James would be moving out of the family home this summer. Post-split, Chloe has been concentrating on her fitness business and hasn't publicly announced any new romantic interests.

Meanwhile, James continues his global DJ tour. The former rugby star's hectic international schedule reportedly caused friction during their marriage and sparked rumours of marital issues after he was spotted partying with women other than Chloe. Before the split was announced, Chloe confessed that one of their biggest arguments - which was also aired on their reality show - occurred when James "was in Ibiza and posted photos of other girls' a***s". Chloe said at the time she felt disrespected by her then hubby because even though she knew that was his job, she didn't want it on social media "when everyone knows I'm your wife'."

The source also revealed that Chloe has gleaned much from her parents' own experiences. Recently, her father Richard, 68, who also has a son Jack with Judy, made a rare comment about his daughter's romantic life. He said he found her early twenties challenging because “she was moving from one relationship to the next”.

“Chloe’s learned a lot from her parents and they’re also encouraging her to really go for her dreams - this is Chloe’s time for happiness,” the source said. “Chloe and James’ TV show really showed the insides of their marriage and it wasn’t always easy, but it gave them a chance to look at how they’d co-parent.

"Some [relationships] were clearly not going to work - one of the great gifts of good parenting is knowing when to keep your mouth shut, but I was vigilant,” he told a newspaper. Heartbreakingly, he said he always wanted her to "have the kind of stability she finally found with James".

However, now that a year has passed and the former couple seem to have successfully navigated co-parenting, the source says that Chloe has done a lot of introspection to avoid falling back into a negative place with James, and the sportsman has also stepped up his game.

“Chloe and James’ TV show really showed the insides of their marriage and it wasn’t always easy, but it gave them a chance to look at how they’d co-parent," they said. “James got a lot of backlash from it but he has stepped up in the past year and Chloe is starting to find and love herself again.”