CORRIE’S Kym Marsh was branded “heartless” last night for dating a close pal’s
ex lover.
Hollyoaks star Stephanie Waring, 36, who has a daughter with Dan Hooper, 31,
said: “I can’t believe she’s done this to me. I’m in bits.”
When she confronted Kym, 37, the star texted: “S*** happens.”
The Hollyoaks actress added: “She’s carried on with him knowing what it’s done
to me.
“I’m shocked and upset. I can’t believe Kym has done this to me. It is killing
me.
“I considered her a friend who I’ve known for years.
“I had no idea that she would ever do anything like this.”
Steph, who was with Dan for five years and has a three-year-old daughter named
Lexi-Grace with him, said: “There is an unwritten rule that if you are
friends with somebody you don’t go near their ex partners.
“Especially when children are involved. He’s not just some guy that I went out
with for a year. This is a man I spent half a decade with and have a child
with.
“Any woman who has had their heart broken and who is going through a break up
can sympathise with this.
“He could have gone out with some 20-year-old hairdresser. He’s a free and
single man who can do as he pleases.
“But Kym I actually considered a friend who I’ve known for years. It’s left me
in bits. She’s heartless”
Steph split with Dan weeks after confiding in Kym about their rocky
relationship. And a fortnight after the split the two women again met up.
But two weeks ago Steph
was astonished to discover Kym, 37, and Dan, 31, were together after
seeing a romantic picture of them on Twitter.
It showed Kym, who had only just split from personal trainer Matt Baker,
posing with Dan on a night out. The tweet included a love heart.
Steph contacted Dan to ask if he was dating Kym, a friend of hers since 2006.
She said: “I asked Dan and he denied it. I said I was going to ask Kym and
then he admitted it.”
Steph then texted Kym — and was stunned by her response.
Kym replied: “I’ve not been ‘seeing’ anyone — but babe if I was what issue
have you got?
“Babe honestly listen, s*** happens in people’s lives.
“I didn’t set out to hurt anyone but babe I love ya.”
Steph said Kym then attempted to justify pouncing on Dan. She suggested Steph
had “moved on” since the split and played down the strength of their
friendship.
Steph replied by pouring out her heartbreak in a series of emotional texts.
She told Kym she had found it impossible to move on after splitting with gym
worker Dan.
Her text said: “We split 2 months ago after 5 years and a child together. It
was hard to make the decision to split and I haven’t moved on.
“I’m just getting on with my life and looking after my girls, everyday has
been hard but I paint on a smile and go to work.
“The hardest thing for me was to let him go and the thought of him being with
someone else I knew would kill me.
“I’m not ready to meet anyone and he told me the same.
“He said it would take a long time before he could. Yes I still love him. I’m
not in love with him like I was but he has been my best friend for 5 years.
“So to hear he is seeing you just killed me.
“No, we are not best friends. But we know each other and some people are just
off limits in those situations.
“People are different Kym. You may have dealt with your break up in a
different way.
“But I’m still hurting from it all and this was the last thing I needed to
find out today.”
Kym did not respond.
Steph told yesterday how she had confided in Kym about her relationship woes
at the National TV Awards in January. She said: “We kind of bonded at the
NTAs. I saw Kym and I went over and said hello and we chatted and had a
great time, a few drinks and enjoyed the party.
“She said ‘Why don’t we go out for dinner soon?’ and I said ‘Yeah, I’ll be in
touch’.
“I did confide in Kym that me and Dan were having a few problems. She replied
‘Dump him babe’. I kind of laughed it off.”
But weeks later Steph and Dan did split and he moved out of their Manchester
home. A fortnight after the split, Steph and Kym met up again. Steph again
confided in Kym about her relationship. She said: “That night I was really
sad because I was missing him.
“So I left the party a little bit early. I texted Kym to say ‘Thanks for a
lovely time but I’m really missing Dan so that’s why I left.’
“She never replied and I didn’t hear from her again until I texted her about
Dan recently.”
There is no suggestion Dan and Kym, who plays Michelle Connor in the soap, got
together before he and Steph split.
Steph, who plays conniving Cindy Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap, said she is
convinced there was no overlap.
She added: “He never spoke about Kym and she never spoke about Dan. She didn’t
know him. But she knew he was my boyfriend.”
Steph said Kym’s involvement had now ruined any chance of a reconciliation
between her and Dan.
She now fears she will have to endure watching Kym and Dan become a full-time
couple.
On Thursday night they were pictured hand in hand as they partied after the
Miss Manchester Awards.
Steph said: “I thought when I sent that text to her saying how I felt that she
would say ‘I can’t do this, I don’t want to upset Steph and it’s probably
not the right thing to do’.
“Clearly I was wrong. I loved Dan and I still love him as the father of my
child. The split was amicable — the candle had gone out. We weren’t planning
to marry.But who knows, maybe someday down the line we could have
reconciled. I didn’t rule it out.
“We have a bond. But there is never going to be any danger of that now. It
won’t happen.
“I actually really liked Kym and that’s the sad thing.
“Every time I met her I thought she was really lovely. That’s why I spent time
with her and went out with her.
“I nearly texted her the other week to see if she fancied grabbing some
dinner. That was before I found out.”
Steph wept as she added: “I’m disappointed she would do this to me. I’m so
upset about what’s happened.
“I feel like I’ve lost the father of my child. We had a good relationship and
now that’s gone.
“I want to put all this in a box and move on. I don’t want to talk about Kym
anymore. She’s got nothing to do with my life.
“I have a lot of anxiety and I just want that anxiety to go away.
“Nothing she can say to me will make this any better. It’s gone too far now. I
can’t forgive her.”
A friend of Kym’s yesterday insisted she had not “encouraged” Stephanie to
dump Dan at the NTAs, adding: “Kym did not know Dan at this point.”
Kym’s spokesman said: “Kym is very upset that Stephanie feels the
way she does and has chosen to sell her story to a newspaper rather than
speak to her directly.
“Kym and Dan are not in a relationship but have both been single for some time
and are entitled to socialise with whomever they wish. Kym has more dignity
than to respond further.”
Dan’s spokesman said: “Dan has been single for three months after he and
Stephanie mutually agreed to separate.
“His priority now is his daughter and for her sake he is not going to comment
further.”
– Additional reporting by RUTH WARRENDER
Ex singer dates long list of TV charmers
KYM Marsh has had a string of boyfriends in recent years — most of whom have
appeared in soaps.
The former singer has two teenage children, David, 18, and Emilie, 15, from a
previous relationship with DAVE CUNLIFFE.
Her first soap star beau was former EastEnder JACK RYDER, 32, whom she
married in 2002.
They divorced after six years and then she hooked up with
Hollyoaks-turned-EastEnders star JAMIE LOMAS, 39.
They got married in 2012, but the union did not last long.
As The Sun revealed, Kym
had an affair with fellow Corrie actor OLIVER MELLOR, 33, five
months after she wed Jamie.
The fling lasted five months, but she called time on it after reportedly
telling him she felt too guilty.
Kym and Jamie — who had daughter Polly in March 2011 — split in October last
year and divorced in January.
She then hooked up with MATT BAKER, a personal trainer 13 years her
junior, and jetted off for a Valentine’s trip to Paris.
That romance only lasted six weeks and the
couple split earlier this month amid claims she did not want to rush
into another relationship.
Recently it emerged she was dating Stephanie Waring’s ex DAN HOOPER,
31, who has appeared as an extra in Corrie.
She could regret this
By Dr PAM SPURR, Relationship Expert
IT’S one of the cardinal rules of friendship — do not go out with a
girlfriend’s ex.
With Kym dating Stephanie’s ex-boyfriend Dan — and apparently fobbing it off
with “s*** happens” — it casts her in a very bad light.
It appears cold and callous and it might come back to bite her. She’s
obviously lost a friend. And if she’s not careful she could lose a whole lot
more.
This story is a lesson to all women. Unless your girlfriend tells you to “help
yourself” it’s far too much like enemy behaviour — not friendship — to start
seeing their ex.