James Haskell claims his ex-wife Chloe Madeley was “groped” by a popular sports star while he was around. Madeley, daughter of TV presenters Richard Madeley and the former Judy Finnigan, and Haskell were married for five years before separating.

Going their separate ways last October, the couple had been together for more than 10 years and often attended glitzy showbiz parties together. It was during a drunken night in London that the former rugby player claims an incident occurred.

Haskell, a former Wasps RFC and Northampton Saints flanker, and internationally for England, talks about the ordeal in his new book The Good, The Bad & The Rugby. He claims Chloe was “groped” by a well-known rugby player, whom he did not name.

“I recently received a call from a supposedly impeccable rugby great who was up to all sorts of mischief in a notoriously hedonistic European capital,” he wrote. “But I wasn’t surprised at all, because the same guy had propositioned Chloe a few years earlier while I was DJing a few feet away, and his teammate, another supposedly impeccable great rugby player, was groping his ass . e,” James states in his book.

Your book cites a source, according to the sunHe adds: “Chloe was the only girl present when it happened. She was surprised, but didn’t think much of it. They had been drinking quite a bit. She and James left immediately afterward.”

Haskell did not explicitly name the players who were allegedly involved in the book entry co-written with Mike Tindall and Alex Payne. James and Chloe began dating in 2015 before getting married in 2018 and eventually split in October 2023.

They welcomed their daughter Bohdi in August 2022 before things took a wrong turn. They continued to live together until earlier this year. It was earlier in the year that Chloe spoke about their public split on Loose Women in January.

“We get along better now that we’re not romantically involved,” she told the panel. “I’m happier now than ever, I wish people would stop writing online that that’s a criticism of James because it’s not, he’s happy too.

“Again, can we stop making so much drama out of it? We’re both happy. I’m happier than ever, I’m full of energy, I feel like I have rocket fuel every day. It’s crazy that I didn’t realize that happiness and energy are completely intertwined, but obviously they are,” he concluded.

Chloe’s father Richard, 68, described their situation as a “very happy disconnect”, revealing the couple managed to stay together despite the end of their marriage. The GMB star also shared that she still has a strong bond with James, who is still part of the family.

He told The Sun: “Chloe is very happy, she and James are going to France together, they have a very happy breakup. It’s a very civilized relationship: we see a lot of James, he’s in the house a lot, whether with Chloe or without her.

“Every once in a while I go have a drink with him. Everything is going well. It’s a very civilized divorce. Co-parenting is going very well.” Mum-of-one Chloe previously spoke out about the reason for the couple’s split, citing their lack of respect for each other. She said: “I think there are pillars that hold a relationship together like love and respect.”

Express.co.uk has contacted Chloe’s representatives for comment.