Ben Foden met new wife three months ago

9 August 2019

Ben Foden's new father-in-law claims the rugby player was dating Jackie Smith for three months before their recent wedding.

Ben Foden and Jackie Smith [Instagram]

Although Ben - who tied the knot with perfume company founder Jackie one year after his split from Una Healy - said that the pair had only been dating seriously for two weeks when they married this month, Jackie's dad has insisted that their relationship was actually going on for much longer.

Speaking to MailOnline, Peter Smith said: "I believe it was a bit more than a fortnight."

Peter revealed Ben, 34, asked for his permission before proposing to Jackie.

He said: "Jackie is very successful in her own right and she met him at the beginning of the summer.

"The wedding wasn't a surprise. He called me to ask for my blessing and I gave it. I said, 'I want her to have a long and successful marriage'."

And Peter who explained that Jackie was on a summer sabbatical from the perfume company she founded when she met Ben in Nantucket, off Cape Cod in Massachusetts, insisted that his daughter is not looking to have children with father-of-two Ben any time soon.

After her cousin Victoria gave a recent interview claiming Jackie wants kids in the near future, Peter said: "Maybe Victoria was talking about herself wanting to have children. That isn't Jackie."

Ben already has two children, Aoife, seven and Tadhg, four, with Una, who he split from last year after she discovered he had been cheating on her.

Meanwhile, Ben announced his marriage to Jackie in an Instagram post in which he said she had saved him after a "tough and turbulent year".

He wrote: "This last year has been by far my toughest and most turbulent for a number of reasons that many of you I'm sure are aware of, in some way or another. The world has a funny way of working things out, many people think I'm a bad person - as I'm sure they'll be many nasty comments left under this post by keyboard warriors a plenty. But I met a girl who seriously swept me off my feet and in a time of hardship showed me love, a deep devoted love. People will say we are mad or crazy or even fools, as @snackyjax and I had only been dating seriously for a little over 2 weeks before deciding to get married. But when someone like her comes in to your life, why would I wait?

"Jackie is the greatest human being I've ever come across - she's beautiful inside and out, intelligent, charming, funny, generous, kind, gentle, energetic the list goes on. She will be a great step mum to Aoife and Tadhg and offers me a future I can't wait to explore with her."