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Television doctor Hilary Jones is locked in a divorce battle with his wife after he was caught cheating on her with a makeover show presenter.
The GMTV star faces paying £9,000 a month in maintenance to Sarah, his wife of 18 years, who says she is the main carer of their three children, 17-year-old twins and a 14-year-old boy.
Divorce proceedings have begun at the High Court following allegations that Jones, 56, had an affair with beauty expert and cable television presenter Sue Moxley, 42, for several months before breaking up with his wife.
Moxley hosts a show called So Would You Dump Me Now?
Jones, who is resident doctor on the ITV1 breakfast show, is believed to be living permanently at his rented flat in Battersea.
He would stay in London for filming during the week and return to the family home in Mapledurwell, Hampshire, at weekends before the separation.
She stood by Jones in 1993, appearing with him on the GMTV sofa, when he confessed to an affair with Josephine Buchan, a co-presenter on his ITV programme The Full Treatment.
He publicly apologised and claimed he had felt neglected by his wife following the birth of their children.
Since the recent revelations, Mrs Jones has been pictured hand-in-hand with her new lover — 37-year-old former Navy captain Stephen Tristram, who is the son of one of her husband's friends. Close friends of Moxley said she hoped the doctor would commit to their relationship, but decided to leave him and is now with former Dollar singer and I'm A Celebrity contestant David Van Day.
Moxley met Jones in April last year at Lorraine Kelly's High Street Fashion Awards. He is said to have told her his marriage was over and he was only staying with his wife for the sake of the children.
Jones has refused to comment on the allegations or the divorce proceedings. When asked about the separation, Mrs Jones claimed the couple had split months before the affair and that relations with her husband remained “very friendly”, saying: “I have moved on. We both have.”
Jones left his first wife, French national Anne Marie Vives, mother of his eldest two sons aged 29 and 26, after 10 years of marriage.
He set up home with Mrs Jones, then Sarah Harvey, who was a health visitor at his GP practice in Basingstoke, before marrying her.
Reader views (2)
I´ve got a relaxation therapy tape by Dr Hilary Jones which I found very useful a few years ago when I was suffering from stress. Before this saga has been played out, I think he might need some of his own medicine.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
Its a tragedy for the kids involved that the media are already over this like a rash. Good on Mrs Jones for getting herself a toy boy. Dr Jones needs to take a good long look at himself (and I don't mean in the mirror...not that its a bad paper) as the details of his life suggest he is something of a flake.
- Peace Maker, Battersea
