Ben Foden has married his girlfriend of two weeks, the former rugby star confirmed on Instagram.
Sharing photos from the surprise wedding on his social media account, the former rugby star revealed that he had married Jackie Belanoff Smith on board a yacht in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The 34-year-old, who split from Saturdays singer Una Healey one year ago, said that Belanoff Smith has brought “excitement and joy” to his life and confirmed that he has received his ex-wife’s “blessing.”
“I met a girl who seriously swept me off my feet and in a time of hardship showed me love, a deep devoted love,” he wrote on Instagram.
He said that critics may say the couple are “mad or crazy or even fools” as they have “only been dating seriously for a little over 2 weeks” before asking followers: “But when someone like her comes in to your life, why would I wait?”
“The people who needed to know, such as close family and friends were told before anyone else and they are happy for me including my beautiful X wife [sic] @unahealy who I love even more for her blessing,” he added.
He said that the “charming, funny, generous, kind” Belanoff Smith will be “a great step mum” to his daughter Aoife, seven, and son Tadhg, four, who he shares with Healy.
The rugby pro shared a close up photo of his and his wife’s new wedding bands alongside a selection of images taken during the celebrations.
Foden looked casual in a blue shirt and white jeans, while his new wife wore a fitted yellow dress with embellished straps.
The sports star married Healy in 2012 and parted ways last year. Speaking to The Guardian last year, Foden admitted that he had cheated on his wife but claimed that infidelity was not the only reason for their split.
“At the moment anything that’s published on me is never very good and pretty rightly so because I was the one who committed adultery,” he told the paper.
“At the same time, it wasn’t the only reason for our divorce to go through.
“It’s not ideal, but we’re very amicable, we’re getting through it, we’re not the first people in the world to get divorced.”
