LAUNCHING the new series of her TV show Bad Boyfriends, Olivia Attwood laughed as she told the assembled press: "I've been a bad girlfriend – I could be on Bad Wives!"
Little did she know that three weeks later, her credentials as a wife would be thrust into the spotlight after she was snapped looking cosy with long-time pal and showbiz lothario Pete Wicks.
Fans erupted when they saw snaps of him with his arms around bikini-clad Olivia on a yacht in Ibiza, with insiders claiming it left her "in the doghouse" with her husband, Gillingham midfielder Bradley Dack.
And yesterday she sparked a riddle when she turned up to present the radio show she hosts with 36-year-old Pete — without her wedding rings.
It immediately upped the stakes, because until then, former Love Islander Olivia, 34, had laughed off the drama.
She captioned an Instagram post filled with Ibiza snaps: "Off the rails", and when a fan wrote: "I'm worried about your marriage," she replied: "Don't be. Worry about yours."
A source close to Olivia also dismissed fears of a marital crisis, revealing that her rings were being washed clean of holiday sun cream and adding that the star often went out without her rings.
The drama deepened as Olivia and Pete hosted their Kiss FM show, The Sunday Roast, when she told the former Strictly contender that she was having a "feral summer".
Showing the strain, she swore during one link, Pete branded her a "very naughty girl" and commented: "She can't be trusted, it's the Ibiza comedown."
'I like a wild night out'
Rewind to earlier this month, at the Bad Boyfriends launch, before all the current fuss kicked off.
After Olivia made her confession, I asked her what exactly made her such a bad wife to Bradley.
She said: "For ages I had the crown in our relationship. I was carrying us on my back for a long time.
"In his early days he was doing his football and he was always out. And I was like, 'Urgh'.
"And now I'm the one that's filming seven days a week and I'm moody. I come in, I'm evil.
"He says, 'You save all your nice personality for work and then you come in like [growling], Where's my dinner?'."
Tellingly, Olivia added: "And I am still going to go to Ibiza to a rave and wear a bikini.
"A lot of men get sucked into the idea of a woman and when they date them, they think, 'Actually I don't want her to go to a rave in a bikini'.
"But I'm like, 'This is who I am'. When I go out now, I don't want it to end, I'm chasing the night.
"It'll be 6am in Soho and my friends will be like, 'We should go'. I'm like, 'No, one more!'
Brad and I do have a lovely relationship. But also, I'm not perfect, he's not perfect, it's not the perfect relationship. But it's a good relationship. There is no such thing as perfect
Olivia
"I do like a wild night out."
Bradley, 31, cheated on Olivia a decade ago, leading to her "very public revenge" when she joined Love Island in 2017 and had a fling with villa beau Chris Hughes.
After they split, she and Bradley rekindled their romance, then got engaged in October 2019 and married in June 2023.
Olivia said: "Brad and I do have a lovely relationship, but also, I'm not perfect, he's not perfect, it's not the perfect relationship.
"But it's a good relationship. That's the thing that we all learn — there is no such thing as perfect.
"He never tries to dampen me. I've had a lot of relationships that did that, so when you get into one where someone likes you and embraces you for who you really are, it's very freeing."
Olivia met Pete at an awards bash, then they both appeared on Towie in 2019 and became great pals — but have never been romantically involved.
It was their three-hour weekly radio show that led to the fuss over this week's sunshine snaps.
A source close to Olivia said: "She and Pete have been close friends for many years, and they were in Ibiza together for Kiss Weekend, where they were recording their podcast, The Sunday Roast: Reheated.
"They were on the boat with their podcast producer and team and were all just letting off steam."
But another insider told The Sun: "Bradley had been getting stick from teammates and that had left her in the doghouse."
A representative for Olivia said: "She was briefly in the doghouse, but they've both moved on from it.
"Brad is focused on his football, and she has the second series of Olivia Attwood's Bad Boyfriends coming out this month."
In the past Olivia has supported Pete fiercely through a cheating scandal with his ex, former Love Islander Maura Higgins.
She said: "I'm very protective of my friends.
"He's very loyal. If he's in your corner, you know he'll be there for you."
Pete has said: "I genuinely care about Liv. She's a really good friend of mine."
Since Love Island, Olivia has won awards for ITV2 documentaries including Getting Filthy Rich and The Price Of Perfection, had her own fly-on-the-wall series Olivia Meets Her Match and is now back for the second series of Bad Boyfriends — more on that later.
Her shows have been streamed more than 250million times on ITVX.
So how, I wonder, will she be coping with the hard dose of reality that this new scrutiny of her marriage has brought?
Our chat before the Ibiza incident suggests, probably, swimmingly.
She said: "It's a really hard climate because we demand authenticity from celebrities but also people are really quick to tell you off."
I've met Olivia many times over the years and have found her to be one of the most professional, hard-working and fun women on TV.
I sincerely doubt that she would risk her marriage for a grope on a boat.
'Making TV should be fun'
But it is fair to say that it has never been harder for famous folk to get away with bad behaviour.
As we speak, the toll of famous TV faces whose careers have been derailed by claims or revelations of wrongdoing grows ever longer.
And accountability for misbehaviour is something Liv welcomes.
She said: "I think that the jig is really up for people who don't behave well on set.
"There was a culture for a long time where that was tolerated.
"But I don't think in this day and age and this climate that we are putting up with as much of that, which I think is good.
"I think everyone should be treated with respect. Being in the entertainment business is a f***ing privilege of a job.
"We are not saving lives here, we are making telly. It should be fun."
Which brings us to Bad Boyfriends, a reality TV series in which Olivia leads a group of women who are sick of their wayward fellas.
The lads are lured on to a fake show and then surprised by their girlfriends, who then put them through a rigorous training camp to fix their unwelcome habits.
On the first night, one man openly cheats on his missus with two girls.
Olivia said: "In that moment, straight away I was in shock.
"I thought, 'No way is this happening'. He was full-on tongue down her neck.
"For this series, we do shine that light back on to the girlfriends a little bit.
When I arrived at This Morning I thought, 'In what planet? This is blagging it to another level. How the hell has this happened?'
Olivia
"I asked them to soul-search, like, 'You've brought this guy here and they don't seem to have any redeemable qualities, so why are you still with them?'.
"What makes this show unique is all these people have relationship history, they're coming in full of tension. They've all got that history."
As well as Bad Boyfriends Olivia is filming the fourth series of Getting Filthy Rich — a deep dive into the online sex industry, she is a regular on Loose Women — and has joined the presenting roster on This Morning.
And after she landed one of the most coveted telly gigs in the UK, insiders think the only way is up for Olivia.
They believe it is clear that ITV is grooming her to be the new Holly Willoughby.
Even so, down-to-earth Olivia still feels like she is blagging it.
She said: "When I arrived at This Morning I thought, 'In what planet?
"This is blagging to another level. How the hell has this happened?'
"But I've been hustling since I got out of that villa. They can't get rid of me."
- Olivia Attwood's Bad Boyfriends starts on September 14 at 10pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
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