Nigel Farage egged as he campaigns with Paul Nuttall amid break-up storm with estranged wife who says said they’ve been living ‘separate lives’ for years
Kirsten Farage made the statement to the press after she was pictured without her wedding ring on
NIGEL Farage's day went from bad to worse after he was hit by an egg while campaigning in Stoke - just hours after his wife has said they had been living ‘separate lives’ for some years.
The statement from Kirsten Farage came after it was reported her husband has been sharing a London pad with another woman.
She revealed the former Ukip boss moved out of their family home in Kent "a while ago" after she was spotted without her wedding ring on.
Mr Farage declined to make any response to his wife's comments, which came in the wake of allegations he was living with a female French politician in the capital.
But while on a walkabout with the party's new leader he was targeted, not for the first time, with an egg.
Fortunately for the 52-year-old he was protected by his Ukip-branded umbrella, and the youth who threw it was pictured running away from the scene after throwing it.
The incident capped a bad day for the MEP, after the comments from his German-born Kirsten, who married him in 1999 after his divorce from his first spouse.
Mrs Farage, with who he has two children, said: "My husband and I have lived separate lives for some years and he moved out of the family home a while ago.
"This is a situation that suits everyone and is not news to any of the people involved."
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She urged reporters not to "doorstep" her family home, saying: "Having press camped out in front of my house is extremely distressing, especially for my children. Please let us get on with our lives."
Yesterday it was reported that Laure Ferrari - who runs the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe (IDDE) - has been living in the MEP’s house in Chelsea for the past week.
Mr Farage told the Mail on Sunday he was helping her out because she needed accommodation and had nowhere else to stay.
"She is someone I have worked with and known well for a long time who wanted somewhere to stay for a week that wouldn't cost her any money. It's a working relationship," he was quoted as saying.
The MoS said that Mr Farage had told its reporters last month that he spent most week nights at a "bachelor pad" and denied that he had split from his wife.
When quizzed on whether he was having an affair with Miss Ferrari, he said the suggestion of that was “crackers”.
He added that he “knew her well” and was simply helping her with somewhere to stay as she had nowhere else to go and needed money.
Asked if he had slept with her, he replied: “I’m not answering ludicrous questions, like have you ever held her hand, ever had dinner with her.
“She is someone I have worked with and known well for a long time who wanted somewhere to stay for a week that wouldn’t cost her any money.
“It’s a working relationship. You can inflate it however you want to.”
Miss Ferrari claimed Mr Farage was simply being helpful when asked why she is living with him and said people were “fantasising”.
She said: “I have no trustworthy friends in London who could have hosted me. I asked and he accepted. He is just trying to be helpful.”
Last November the Electoral Commission announced it was opening an investigation into whether Ukip had accepted "impermissible donations" from IDDE and the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE), the political party it is affiliated to.
It followed an audit by the European Parliament which concluded that ADDE and IDDE used EU grant funding for the benefit of Ukip in breach of its rules.
The claims have been strongly contested by Ukip.
Ms Ferrari, who first became involved in politics as a result of a chance meeting with Mr Farage 10 years ago while she was working as a waitress in Strasbourg, said she had been forced to move out of her own flat after the European Parliament stopped IDDE's funding.
"I have no trustworthy friends in London who could have hosted me. I asked and he accepted. He is just trying to be helpful," she told The Mail on Sunday.