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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Lucy Needham

Johnny Vegas' TV presenter ex-wife who many viewers will recognise

Johnny Vegas made a return to our screens this week to front a new Channel 4 documentary celebrating the British staycation.

After making appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox, Johnny and his good friend and assistant Bev landed their own TV show to find the 'coolest' campsite in Britain.

Carry on Glamping sees Johnny, 50, splashing the cash on vintage buses to transform a field in Yorkshire into a lucrative holiday destination.

After first finding fame on The Big Breakfast back in the 90s, Johnny has been a familiar face on our TVs over the last 20 years.

However, many fans may not realise that Johnny has a famous ex-wife who many will recognise.

Johnny and Bev starrin in Channel 4's Carry on Glamping (Plum Pictures)
Johnny wants to fulfil his dream of opening up a campsite in Yorkshire (Plum Pictures)

Johnny was married to Irish TV presenter Maia Dunphy for seven years, with the couple welcoming son Tom together.

The couple tied the knot in Seville, Spain in 2011 and announced their split in seven years later in 2017.

The pair reconciled a year later before confirming that they had separated for good in April 2020.

Maia said at the time that her split from the Lancashire funnyman was 'devastating' for her.

"Johnny and I are not together now. It’s difficult and heartbreaking and a source of daily sadness for me," she told reporters.

Johnny Vegas and his ex-wife the Irish TV presenter Maia Dunphy (UK Press via Getty Images)

During their time together, Maia said she was careful not to become 'Mrs Vegas' and wanted success in her own right.

"Once we were together, I was offered reality shows and daytime TV slots in the UK – the kind of breaks people in my line of work might dream of – but they weren’t the breaks I wanted.

"I had no interest in suddenly being Mrs Vegas, I worked too hard for that.

Maia was famous in her own right before marrying Vegas (WireImage)

"I never traded off him and just kept ploughing my own furrow, but even in Ireland, my ‘more famous husband’ was always the deal-breaker."

The TV presenter said she was shocked when of close friends offered to change the date of her wedding when she learned that Johnny couldn't make it.

"That hurt so much, as she’d never even met him. I’d known her for 25 years and it felt like my coming alone wasn’t enough," said Maia.

The pair split for good in 2020 (Getty Images)

Maia has written and produced numerous comedy shows from Podge & Rodge and Katherine Lynch's Wagon's Den.

She was also a finalist on Celebrity MasterChef: Ireland in 2013 and took part in the second series of Dancing with the Stars, where she was eliminated in week 5.

The multi-talented star has also written her own book that was released in November 2017.

The M word was nominated for non-fiction book of the year at the Irish Book Awards and won high praise for Maia's hilarious account of her journey into motherhood.

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