Nick Knowles dating new love 30 years his junior as ex-wife wages war with ’emotional cruelty’ claims
The 55 year old presenter and ladies' man has been slammed by former lovers as he begins new romance amid claims that he subjected wife Jessica to years of cruelty
RELAXING at a luxury Los Angeles hotel at the weekend, his glamorous young lover on his arm, Nick Knowles looked every bit the TV heartthrob.
The popular DIY SOS TV star, 55, had been enjoying a break from filming with his new partner Rebecca Kearns, a marketing executive 30 years his junior.
Little did father-of-four Nick know that, 6,000 miles away, his estranged wife Jessica Moor was poised to plunge him into chaos.
On Friday, Jessica, 28, accused Nick of subjecting her to years of “emotional cruelty, abuse and eventually isolation”, claiming to have damning images to prove it.
Nick has furiously denied the allegations — which yesterday mysteriously disappeared from Jessica’s social media feed.
Since his split from Jessica in December 2016 the once wholesome presenter has been linked with at least five new romances.
Many of them quickly turned sour, with ex-lovers labelling him “cruel” and accusing him of going through a midlife crisis.
But by Nick’s own admission, he has never been one for commitment.
Admitting he’s “no choirboy”, he said in 2008: “My relationships have pretty much followed a pattern. They last six months and start off with me explaining that I work a lot, so will have commitment issues.
“The women involved agree that that is fine, then after a month I get a phone call saying, ‘This isn’t on’. After three months we split up, then get back together. After five, there’s another tussle. At six it’s all off.”
A decade later, little appears to have changed.
But friends hope his new romance could finally see him settle after he was introduced to Rebecca through mutual pals.
The pair enjoyed a night out at trendy members’ club Soho House in Hollywood this weekend, before Rebecca jetted back to the UK alone on Sunday.
A friend of the telly presenter revealed: “Nick and Rebecca have been dating for about three months and it’s getting serious.”
The pal said Rebecca had met three-year-old Eddie — Nick’s son with Jessica “because they all agreed it was important to keep things civilised for his sake”.
“But Nick needs a fresh start. Jessica seemed to be OK with it all but obviously something has changed and now she’s unleashed all of this stuff online. Nick is devastated by the things she has accused him of.
“He doesn’t want Rebecca to have to endure anything so has kept their relationship low key, but all this has blown everything out of the water.”
Nick has become a major crush for thousands of fans of BBC1 series DIY SOS and quiz show Who Dares Wins.
In more recent years he penned 2016 comedy film Golden Years, about a group of pensioners who pull off a bank robbery, and even tried his hand at singing.
He once shamelessly admitted he went into TV “because I thought I’d make loads of money and meet attractive women”.
So his reputation as a lothario comes as little surprise — even if it is unwelcome.
Nick claims he has been assumed to be in a relationship with people who are friends, saying: “I just happen to have a lot of intelligent, go-getting female friends.
“And if I go out for dinner I’d much rather have a table for two than a table for one. Just because I’m seen out with certain people doesn’t mean I’m dating them.”
He has, however, been correctly linked to many women.
Shortly after agreeing to take a “break” from his marriage to Jessica, the £349,000-a-year TV presenter was snapped in an embrace with Emmerdale actress Gemma Oaten after a night out at the annual TV Choice awards in September 2016.
But the candid shots proved to be the end of their fling, leaving the 33-year-old actress heartbroken after she understood a serious romance was on the cards.
Gemma later explained: “One Sunday morning we were lying in bed and all these texts came through about us being photographed together.
“In an instant he completely changed. It was all about him and how it was going to affect his family. It was really cruel as he said it didn’t matter for me. I felt sick.
“I said, ‘Do you want to throw away what we have? We have done nothing wrong’. But he just dropped me like a ton of bricks.
“I thought it was a real relationship and he wasn’t afraid to let others know.”
Nick briefly reconciled with Jessica but in December 2016 called time on his struggling marriage.
Then last summer he was seen out on dates with Towie’s Pascal Craymer, 30.
Pascal confirmed they were dating, adding: “He’s so lovely. We’re seeing how it goes. He gets portrayed badly but he’s a nice guy.”
But Nick denied the pair had been a couple, and after they split up Pascal accused him of having a midlife crisis. Since then Nick has been seen with several other women — including Lark Rise To Candleford actress Olivia Hallinan, 33, and fantasy author Julia Suzuki, 42.
He now faces the prospect of an increasingly bitter divorce battle with Jessica, who has demanded £2,000-a-month in private school fees on top of her current £4,000-a-month allowance.
He refuses to engage in a “public slanging match”, but those close to him insist he will fork out for Eddie’s education — though will pay the school directly.
Nick first wed in the 1990s and had two children with his first wife Gillian — daughter Tuesday, 25, and son Charlie, 24.
He went on to have son Tyrian-J, 21, during a two-year relationship with beauty therapist Paula Beckett-Vass before begining a three-year romance with sports presenter Suzi Perry in 2000.
After moving away from the family home in Manchester, he later admitted his guilt at missing large chunks of his kids’ childhoods but explained: “I missed a lot of them growing up. Even now I look back and think, ‘Did I get it right?’ I don’t know.
“But the fact is that even when I was living there, I was away a lot. And if I hadn’t worked so hard, would I be in a position to keep them secure now?”
Away from his turbulent love life Nick last year released his debut album of cover songs, Every Kind of People, to mixed reviews.
He says: “I’m the kind of person who gets home from work and picks up the guitar and strums a lot.”
His yearning for the spotlight has not all been plain sailing, with him admitting that during what he called one of his “black dog” days he once called his BBC bosses and threatened to quit showbiz altogether after the death of a close friend.
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He revealed: “I just upped and went. I phoned everyone I was working with at the BBC and left messages all over the shop saying, ‘I’m resigning’.
“I’ve got a favourite little beach in Cornwall. I headed there and sat on the cliffs for 24 hours while I sorted my head out.
“Eventually I took a call from my brother, who has always been there to pick me up when I’ve crumbled.“He said, ‘look at all you’ve achieved’. By nature I’m not one for looking back, none of that matters. It’s where I’m going next that terrifies me.”