Matt Hancock raced home to tell his wife Martha he was leaving her after learning that CCTV showing him kissing aide Gina Coladangelo was about to be released, according to reports.
Mr Hancock resigned as Health Secretary tonight having faced mounting pressure to quit over video footage of him embracing Ms Coladangelo in his ministerial office in a breach of coronavirus restrictions.
After being told by The Sun that they'd obtained the CCTV footage, Mr Hancock allegedly raced home on Thursday night to tell his wife Martha he was leaving her.
The Mirror reports that, according to The Sunday Times, he declared to Martha - who had believed they were "happy and stable" - that their marriage was over.
Mr Hancock even reportedly woke up their youngest child, who is eight years old, to say he was leaving.
The claims come after a Tory source told the Mirror that Mr Hancock’s marriage was “completely over”.
The source said: “Everyone in Westminster and the Department of Health is talking about it.
"Hancock’s pathetic apology for breaching social distancing guidelines has gone down so badly.
"It’s not the affair, it’s the hypocrisy - the do as I say, not as I do."
Mr Hancock wrote to Boris Johnson on Saturday, saying: "The last thing I would want is for my private life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis.
"I want to reiterate my apology for breaking the guidance, and apologise to my family and loved ones for putting them through this. I also need to be with my children at this time."
He said: "We owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance."
Mr Hancock paid tribute to NHS staff and Department of Health and Social Care officials and admitted that "we didn't get every decision right".
But he said: "I know people understand how hard it is to deal with the unknown, making the difficult trade-off between freedom, prosperity and health that we have faced."
In a video posted on Twitter, Mr Hancock said: "I understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made, you have made. And those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that's why I've got to resign."
Former Chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid Javid will replace Matt Hancock as Health Secretary, Downing Street has announced.
