‘It’s tough’ Ugo Monye announces split from wife of five years just before Strictly launch

Former England rugby player Ugo Monye, 38, has revealed that he has split from his wife, speaking out just days before he takes to the dancefloor on the new series of Strictly Come Dancing. The split from his wife Lucy comes a week after the devastating death of his father from prostate cancer.

Addressing his split from his wife of five years, the former rugby player told how it’s been a difficult time for both of them.

Ugo said: “It’s been hard. At times things have seemed a bit overwhelming but it’s been a tough period for us both.”

The star went on to explain that there wasn’t a defining moment that caused the breakdown of their relationship, but instead revealed it happened over the course of the pandemic.

He said: “In some relationships there is a moment, a ‘thing’, that breaks the couple.

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Ugo will find out who his new Strictly partner is during the upcoming launch show, but admitted that looking for love on the dancefloor is the furthest thing from his mind.

“I’m not thinking about romance,” he told The Sun.

Addressing the decision he and Lucy made to split, Ugo told how it hadn’t come “out of the blue”.

He said: “We’d had one big conversation a while ago when we put everything on the table, then smaller conversations about certain other things.