S Club 7’s Rachel Stevens dating Dancing On Ice star months after shock marriage split from husband
RACHEL Stevens is dating her Dancing on Ice partner Brendyn Hatfield — months after her marriage ended.
The S Club 7 singer, 45, skated with the US pro, 37, on the ITV1 show last year.
A source said: “They’re smitten.”
Rachel split from husband Alex Bourne in July.
The Sun on Sunday can now reveal she is dating Brendyn, who is separated from his wife, also a professional skater.
A source said: “Rachel had a really great friendship and partnership with Brendyn and it keeps developing.
“They’re really smitten and looking forward to the future.
“She wasn’t expecting to find love again at this stage in her life but she’s feeling postive about what’s to come and hopeful about a new start.
“She is taking each day as it comes and focusing on upcoming career projects.”
Rachel, who is a new Heart FM presenter, first met Brendyn in November 2021 when they began training for Dancing on Ice.
They soon forged a friendship as they competed in January 2022 — becoming the third pair to be eliminated.
A few months later, Rachel revealed her break-up from property developer and childhood sweetheart Alex on Instagram just one month before their 13th wedding anniversary.
She moved out of their North London home earlier this year and with the couple saying they were focusing on co-parenting daughters Amelie, 12, and Minnie, nine.
Our source added: “Rachel and Alex are on great terms co-parenting their two daughters and they’re really good at communicating with each other as they continue to navigate their marriage break up.
“They still have a lot of love and respect for each other.”
Seattle-born Brendyn is married to fellow pro skater Jessica, who was a reserve dancer for the 2020 Dancing on Ice series.
But they split two years ago and she has since returned to the US where she has been working as a nurse as well as taking part in the Disney On Ice tour.
A source added: “Brendyn and Jessica are still friends, but haven’t been in a relationship for a long time.”
At the time of her marriage split Rachel wrote on Instagram: “I just wanted to share with you all that after time and consideration the difficult decision has been made for Alex and I to separate.
“While we are no longer partners in marriage, we will remain partners in parenthood to our beautiful girls and continue with love and respect for each other.
“I feel so incredibly grateful for the life we built together and will now continue to be focused on moving forward united as a family.”
Rachel said last year she had stayed in contact with Brendyn.
When asked if she had enjoyed her time on the show she responded: “Some of it.
“Some of it was difficult because I had Covid at the beginning and I broke my wrist so Brendyn and I missed ten weeks of training, which knocked my confidence.
“I found it hard to feel safe on the ice.
“But I met incredible people. I still see Brendyn.”
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday’s Fabulous Magazine in February Rachel opened up for the first time about her marriage split.
She said: “It’s very hard to articulate the feelings, because there are so many. It’s been really painful, really sad. It’s been the biggest decision to make in our lives, obviously, with our kids.”
She said her and Alex’s biggest concern was protecting their children from the fallout, after Rachel’s own parents, Michael and Linda, split when she was 17.
Crediting therapy for helping guide her she said: “I worried about the girls having the experience I had.
“We’ve had some amazing advice on how to speak to them. They know how much we love them and we are not going anywhere.
“Our split is very amicable and that’s really helping.
“It’s only the last two weeks that we’ve not been living together.
“That was definitely difficult. We’re doing it with love and respect, but it’s a process.
“It’s taken a lot of navigating. We are going to mess up and make mistakes.
“But we are acknowledging that to them, and I feel so lucky.
“I’m so grateful for having therapy. Having that outlet to talk to someone with no judgment or emotional attachment.
“She just gets it. I think it’s so important for all of us to feel seen, heard and understood.
“Through my therapy, I’ve learned how to parent better.
“I want to be the best mum I can be. And I say to the girls: ‘I’ve made a mistake.’ It’s important for them to see that we’re not perfect – that parents are human.”
The singer and model recently moved out of the marital home to a new house in North London.
Discussing the move, she added: “Moving house has been stressful, but it’s really exciting.
“Choosing interiors and decorating. I love that.
“It’s my place with the girls. That feels empowering.
“We are creating a home, which is wonderful, but there are so many feelings around it. Mainly good, but also scary.”
Rachel and Alex have known each other since childhood.
She previously said: “We were boyfriend and girlfriend when we were 12.
“We were boyfriend and girlfriend on and off during our teens until I got into the band, and he went off and did his stuff.
“Then we bumped into each other randomly in our late 20s, and at that point I’d sworn off men, but it was really lovely to see him.
“But I was going to LA at the time, so no, but then we reconnected.
“We obviously had all of that history and now, the rest is history.”
Rachel, who was engaged to ex-Hollyoaks actor Jeremy Edwards, 52, from 2002 to 2003, will go on tour with S Club 7 later this year after they announced the group had reunited.
The bandmates — Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara, Hannah Spearritt and Paul Cattermole — formed in 1998 and had a string of massive hits from 1999-2001 with the likes of Reach, Bring It All Back and Don’t Stop Movin’.
They have been excitedly making plans for their reunion tour later this year but were rocked by the sudden death of Paul, 46, just three weeks ago.
The band have since vowed to press ahead with tour plans in honour of his memory.