Gladiators star Jet opens up on ‘endless’ jealous rows that sparked sudden split from wife she met in Tesco

JET the Gladiator has told of her heartache after her fairytale wedding collapsed within weeks.

Television heartthrob Diane Youdale tied the knot with teacher Zoe Gilbert after she was swept off her feet in her local Tesco.

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DIANE YOUDALE

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She said at the start of their whirlwind romance: “I knew in my heart I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life, and I proposed.”

But Diane, 54, has now spoken of her heartache as she revealed that the marriage hit the rocks almost straightaway.

She claims Zoe, 50, was jealous of her previous partners which led to rows.

Diane said: “She was funny, had a great mind, she made me laugh a lot and I was fully invested in the relationship.

“I tend to jump in both feet, pretty quick.

“But I became a bit of a passenger, I’m usually independent, proactive, and there’s things I like to do like walking but I stopped doing all that.

“She would say ‘what about Sonia? What about Lisa?’ These are exes, professionally and personally.

“I was like: ‘I don’t go on at you about your past I’m not insecure about that.’

“But it was endless. I lost ‘me’ really quickly. And that is possibly that something I’ve done in relationships in the past as well.

“What is the point in being with somebody in the now and having a future ahead of you if all you want to do is talk about that person’s past?”

The couple tied the knot in July 2023 but by the September Diane had moved out.

She said that Zoe suggested they give it another go but it didn’t work and Diane filed for divorce on their one year anniversary.

It is a far cry from when they both spoke of their joy after meeting in their local supermarket.

Zoe said to Diane: “I think you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. May I ask you out on a date?”

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DIANE YOUDALE

They had been dating for over a year before deciding to move forward apart[/caption]

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Diane –famous on the show for her trademark flicking of her hair – said: “It was aisle six of Tesco and I nearly fell on the floor.

“It was like that feeling when your knees give way, I felt winded.

I was like, ‘Yes, of course’ and by the weekend we went to a local village and had a meal and we literally have not been apart since.”

Their romance came as a shock to Diane’s legions of fans from the show’s heyday who assumed she was straight after she dated Gladiator Hunter, real name James Crossley.

It just didn’t work out between us.” 

Diane

She was also married to a make TV exec for seven years and was in another long-term relationship with a man.

But she said her sexuality changed “organically” over the years.

Previously she was coy about putting a label on herself but she is now proud to declare: “I am gay. Sorry gentlemen! You boys have it lucky –  I think men are very lucky to love women.”

Her divorce from Zoe is now finalised and she added: “It just didn’t work out between us.” 

Zoe hit back at Diane’s claims that she was jealous of her ex-partners.

She insisted she was not jealous but was upset because Diane had not told her about them.

Zoe said: “I was continually lied to about these exes. I only found out about them when it came out in the press.

“I was upset because she hadn’t been truthful throughout the relationship. I had to find out about these previous partners in the papers.”

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