Married at First Sight star Amy Christophers splits from live-in boyfriend after ‘sex assault’
MARRIED at First Sight star Amy Christophers has split from her live-in boyfriend after three months.
The 35-year-old says she's learnt a "painful lesson" from the break up as she deals with the fallout of a shared house and dogs.
Amy has been dropping hints online about her relationship breakdown in recent weeks.
It comes as the horse racing presenter for Racing TV's social media channel Raceday released footage of a man slapping her bottom during a live broadcast.
She has accused the race-goer - who has been banned from Beverley Race Course - of sexual assault.
When approached by The Sun, Amy confirmed the split - adding: "We hadn't been together long when he suggested we look for somewhere to live together because I was moving out of my house.
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"Three weeks in cracks started to show and reality hit. Unfortunately things with Leon didn't work out as we both thought it would.
"I've always been used to living with friends or ex-boyfriends, but this was his first time living with a girlfriend and he got a bit overwhelmed.
"Before I met him I was in a really happy place and was just browsing on dating apps. When we met he turned my world upside down.
"I have a pattern of rushing things, but I really thought it was different this time.
"It's really hard having done a reality TV show when you've been so vulnerable. I put my heart out there and now people know what I want to hear from someone.
"It's difficult to know if people have watched it or not. Going forward I'm going to be extra cautious."
Three weeks after moving in, cracks started to show. I've learnt a painful lesson.
Amy Christophers
The Sun revealed Amy met her firefighter ex Leon McKenzie, 38, on the dating app Hinge after a psychic reading came true.
Fans were quick to point out Leon's resemblance to her ex-husband Joshua Ritchie who she married at first sight on the E4 show.
"Leon was saying everything I wanted to hear and even though I was cautious, I was going at his pace. I had met my match - someone who wanted to go head first into the relationship believing it would work out.
"He thought it was what he wanted too, but we didn't take the time to get to know each other before taking on all the responsibilities of a house and a dog. It was too much too soon.
"I've learnt a painful lesson. Moving forward I'm going to date someone for six months before putting a label on it.
"I know I have patterns and stuff to work on. I'm going to be asking for help from Married At First Sight's Paul Brunson to see where I go wrong and what I can do to finally find ever-lasting love.
"With Leon, we're going to remain friends and I wish him the best.
"We still have the house and dogs, so everything is still amicable. We're fundamentally quite different people."
Despite her personal life taking a hit, Amy is continuing to focus on her career as a sports broadcaster.
Alongside the break up, Amy was forced to deal with an incident at work which left her "feeling sick".
The 35-year-old was interviewing punters at Beverley on Saturday when Amy asked a group of men to show her their best jockey impressions.
But after mimicking the riding of a horse, one of the men inappropriately touched her - slapping her bottom - adding "put that online".
She was visibly shocked and challenged the man once the cameras stopped rolling.
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Replying to someone on Twitter who downplayed the incident, she said: "I wasn’t laughing!! I was shocked and my a*s was stinging for half an hour! I was working! That is NOT OK!
"If you think sexual contact without consent is ok then maybe you’re the problem too! I can press charges for it!"
Sally Iggulden, chief executive at Beverley, said the track has a zero-tolerance approach to "inappropriate disrespect" and is trying to find the racegoer so they can issue him with a ban.
She said: "We're appalled by the actions of one individual at Saturday's meeting.
"We reached out to Amy immediately after the incident to offer our sincere apologies and support.
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"Beverley racecourse has always operated a zero-tolerance approach to any form of inappropriate disrespect and we're now in the process of studying CCTV footage of the incident.
"Anyone found to have committed any offences of this nature can expect a lifetime ban from Beverley racecourse."
