STRICTLY’S Ore Oduba’s wife spoke of a ‘difficult patch’ before their split, after he went back to work DAYS after she gave birth.
The 38-year-old shared the news with fans today and revealed the couple, who share two children, had decided to end things earlier this year.
It’s now been revealed that Ore had to leave home just one week after the birth of their first child in 2018, due to work commitments on the Strictly tour.
Sharing a photo of her husband cradling their son Roman, Portia wrote at the time: “Bye bye daddy see you really soon… Today daddy goes on tour with @strictlycomedancinglive.”
She then hinted at tough times by writing: “Feeling emotional and hormones are everywhere but we are lucky to have an amazingly supportive family looking after us. Partners going back to work is hard isn’t it!?”
Today Ore, who won Strictly in 2016, shocked fans when he announced that he and Portia had split.
He wrote: “Hi guys. Portia and I are said to announce that we separated earlier this year.
“We’re so grateful for all the love you’ve shared with us both over the years.
“And we want to thank you in advance for respecting our privacy as we navigated this difficult transition.
“We will be making no further comment. Be kind, always.”
Ore and Portia met and fell in love back in 2010 at Loughborough university, while studying.
He then proposed to her four years later, with the couple marrying the following year.
The couple got married at Penshurst Place in Kent in November 2015.
Speaking about their wedding day, Ore previously told The Mirror: “On my wedding day I cried from 11 in the morning until 2am that night.
“There’s a picture of me wailing, my best men there laughing and Portia absolutely cracking up next to me – I am the only one crying.”
In early 2018 Ore revealed Portia had given birth to a baby boy on January 9.
The couple named their son Roman.
The couple’s second child, daughter Genie, was born in 2021.
The Newsfound presenter won Strictly alongside Joanne Clifton in 2016 and famously said the experience helped his married to Portia – and the Strictly course was not an issue.
He said: “For us, it brought us closer together but it’s not easy for some people. It’s a bubble. If people dear to you are not there, factions can occur.”
In another interview, he told The Sun: “The show is so 24/7 and I didn’t want Portia to feel like an outsider. The three of us went out for dinner and bowling together. I won.
“But Portia and Jo got on so brilliantly, I was the third wheel! If anything, the curse has stolen my wife because I feel left out when we all hang out together.
“I really couldn’t have been more fortunate than to get two brilliant blonde bombshells in my life.”
Ore is well known for hosting Newsround as well as various other TV shows.
Since his glorious stint on Strictly he has appeared in the West End and made his debut in Grease.
He was most recently in Pretty Women, which has just finished touring the country.
