I'm A Celeb star Phil Tufnell's pals issued warning ahead of third marriage to wife Dawn
I'm A Celebrity...South Africa star Phil Tufnell previously revealed his friends were apprehensive about him getting married for the third time to wife Dawn, but the cricketer was determined to find his "soulmate".
Phil Tufnell, 56, has been married to wife Dawn Brown since 2005, and the pair are still going strong.
However, the I’m A Celebrity…South Africa star’s friends were initially dubious about the union, due to Phil walking down the aisle for the third time with Dawn.
Despite warnings from his pals at the time, Phil insisted “I always wanted a soulmate”, and that his marriage to Dawn has made him “more measured”.
In quotes unearthed from a 2015 interview with The Guardian, the retired England cricketer revealed that after his second divorce from ex-wife Lisa Bar in 1998, he was determined to keep “looking for love”.
Phil told the publication: “I kept going, looking for a bit of love. I finally found it with my Dawn.
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“We’ve been together about 13 years. She’s the most honest – and loyal – woman I’ve met. And she’s a great friend.
“People said: ‘Crikey, why are you going down this route again?’
“But I always wanted a soulmate. I’m more measured now,” I’m A Celeb’s 2003 King of the Jungle added.
Phil also admitted that before he met Dawn, being a Test cricketer and having a family wasn’t a good combination.
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He recalled of the height of his career in the sport: “You’re away from home a lot and there’s the odd temptation.
“When I was playing, wives and girlfriends weren’t allowed on long tours.
“I remember I was in Australia once, just about to bat against some bloke bowling 90mph at my head, and my ex-wife phoned up saying the dishwasher had broken down.
“What the hell was I supposed to do about that?”
Phil’s first marriage was to Alison Squires when he was just 18, which he claims was due to his mother’s death, and wanting someone to look after him and cook his dinners.
The former Question of Sport host was married to Alison for three years before they separated in 1989.
Phil then went on to date Jane McEnvoy, with the couple welcoming a daughter called Ellie in 1992.
The sportsman proposed to Jane just after their daughter’s birth, but their romance didn’t last.
After his split from Jane, Phil married Lisa and the duo had a daughter together, before getting divorced in 1998 and later finding love with his current wife Dawn.
I’m A Celebrity...South Africa continues tonight at 9pm and all this week on ITV1 and ITVX.