Hayley Palmer and The Chase star Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett plan to spend night together following their acrimonious split after he ‘refused to divorce’ his second cousin

by

Hayley Palmer and Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett, known from the show The Chase, are planning to meet up after a year and a half apart. He unexpectedly ended their relationship at that time.

Hayley, age 44, announced on Monday that she will be interviewing her former partner, 59, at London’s Hippodrome, even though she previously blocked him after he ended their relationship a year after it began.

Hayley said they broke up because her partner was unwilling to finalize his divorce from his ex-wife, Katie – who also happens to be his second cousin. He later suggested their age difference was a contributing factor.

Hayley has gotten over her past hurt and now wants to be friends. She’s starting to plan interviews, and he’s the first person she wants to talk to.

They blocked each other after the breakup, but she eventually contacted him, and things have been going well between them ever since.

On January 26th, Hayley will interview Mark as part of her ‘An Audience with’ show. He’ll be discussing his impressive career, including his success in competitive quizzing and how he became a well-known face on television.

The tickets start from £22 to £106.

So, Hayley shared with me that Mark ended things between them because he wasn’t willing to go through a divorce from his ex-wife, Katie, who he has a seven-year-old son, Lawrence, with. It sounds like the complexities of his existing family played a big role in their split.

Despite what Hayley said, Mark told The Sun that she’s a wonderful person and he felt fortunate to have dated her for a year. He reiterated that the breakup was his fault, saying he had simply grown old.

Katie and Mark ended their relationship in 2020 after trying and failing to make an open marriage work. At the time, Katie had been dating Scott Bate, a senior design engineer, for a year and a half.

As someone who follows relationship dynamics closely, I’ve been reading about the recent split, and it seems there were a lot of contributing factors. Beyond the obvious, they’ve mentioned the significant age difference between them – 27 years is a lot to navigate! – and the added stress of the Covid-19 lockdowns really took a toll. It’s also important to acknowledge that personal mental health plays a huge role in any relationship, and he’s been open about his own struggles, which undoubtedly impacted things.

Hayley said in an interview with the Daily Mail that seeing him on the show Loose Women was upsetting for her, to the point she had to change the channel. She explained it brought up difficult feelings for her.

I just can’t believe he did that! Everyone calls Mark ‘The Shark,’ and honestly, it’s so fitting. He totally lived up to the name – completely blindsided her with a breakup call! It was so cold and out of nowhere. I mean, a phone call? Seriously? He’s just…ruthless. I always knew he had that side to him, but wow, it’s awful to see it directed at her. It’s like he doesn’t even care about anyone’s feelings!

Seeing him appear on my screen was really jarring, and I actually had to look away. I wasn’t prepared for how strongly I’d react.

I was with him the last time he used that platform, and we were talking about our upcoming one-year anniversary. Then, just a week later, everything fell apart.

She added: ‘To be honest, thinking about him with anyone just brings it all back.’

Hayley admitted she was surprised by how strongly she reacted, saying, ‘It really brought up some difficult feelings. I was shocked, because I’ve been working on my mental well-being and felt like I was in a good headspace.’

Read More

2025-11-24 18:33