Vernon Kay and Tess Daly break-up: Friends reveal real reason behind couple's shock split

The former Strictly presenter, 57, and the Radio 2 DJ, 51, announced in a shock joint statement on Friday that they have decided to part ways.

They said they were separating “amicably” and “remain great friends and, most importantly, fully committed to our roles as loving and supportive parents”.

According to the Daily Mail, the heart of the couple's decision to split was their five year age-difference and the desire to do different things with their lives and in their personal time.

“They are totally different people now,” a friend told the newspaper. “They used to have so much in common but things have changed. They have changed. They have aged differently.”

The friend suggested Vernon is “still a big kid” who “loves going out and having a good time”.

“He loves to have a drink and a laugh. He loves the ’90s disco nights that he puts on. He loves football, American football and Oasis,” the friend said.

“Tess isn’t interested in any of that.”

“Vernon is only five years younger but the age gap has appeared to widen recently. They’ve realised that they want different things and to lead different lives from each other,” they said.

They pointed to the fact the couple did not socialize regularly in public together, including Vernon's trips to see Oasis without her and to watch the Superbowl, and had different hobbies.

A source said Daly is happy with the split. "She’s tougher than she looks," the friend told the Mail. "She will be just fine."

The couple tied the knot on September 12, 2003 and share two daughters Phoebe, 21, and Amber, 16.

The pair met at a BBC Christmas party while working as up-and-coming TV presenters for rival channels in 2001.

Kay proposed on Christmas Day 2002 at Daly’s parents home a year later.

The couple married the next September in his hometown at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Horwich, near Bolton.

Kay will likely move out of the family home, although it is not yet known whether they may decide to sell the property, according to the Mail. It is believed the couple will eventually divorce.

In their statement together on Friday they said: “After much consideration, and with a deep sense of care and respect for one another, we have made the decision to separate amicably.

“There are no other parties involved in this decision. We kindly ask for privacy during this time as we navigate this transition together.

“We will not be making any further public comments. Tess and Vernon”.

There were reported signs the couple were splitting.

The power couple’s marriage made headlines in 2010 when Kay admitted he sent explicit texts to around five women, going on to apologise to hundreds of thousands of listeners on the Radio 1 show he hosted at the time.

He interrupted the programme to tell his two million listeners he had been “foolish and stupid”.

However a month later, Daly said their partnership was “worth fighting for” because they had had “10 great years together” and shared “two beautiful kids”.

She told the One Show: “Dealing with it in private is difficult enough, but dealing but with it in public is even harder”, adding that she was touched by the amount of support she had received."

Although both were well-known faces when they married in 2003, they shunned offers of six-figure deals with glossy celebrity magazines for exclusive photographs of their wedding.

The couple, both dressed in white, instead posed for fans’ photographs outside the church.

Strictly Come Dancing launched the following year and Daly took up her role next to the late Sir Bruce Forsyth.

She helmed the BBC dancing competition’s main show for 21 years with Claudia Winkleman, joining her every Saturday from 2014, after Sir Bruce stepped down.

Daly and Winkleman stepped back last year, both choking back tears as they signed off for the final time in December.