Hayley Palmer has been having counselling following her shock split from 'The Chase' star Mark Labbett.
Mark Labbett and Hayley Palmer
The 42-year-old TV presenter was left "heartbroken" after Mark, 59, ended their year-long relationship in a brief three-minute phone call, leaving her utterly blindsided.
Mark initially reassured Hayley that he would finalise his divorce from wife Katie, 32, who he split from in 2020, but ultimately changed his mind and decided he didn't want to legally separate from the mother of his son.
Speaking on the My Dirty Laundry podcast, Hayley said: “The way he did it, his voice still haunts me to this day. I'm having counselling because someone told me, 'What you've had is betrayal trauma.'
“They said, 'Have you been having flashbacks and nightmares and anxiety?' I said, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I get'. It's just the shock to your body of it completely coming out of the blue.”
Hayley admitted she “doesn’t know what happened” as they had just celebrated their first anniversary on May 16 with a trip to the beach in Southsea.
She added: “He called me and said, "How are you? Are you on GB News this Saturday?" I was like, "Yeah, I'm booked to go on, can't wait"... I was telling him everything.
“And then he said, ‘Right, this is not gonna be easy to tell you, but you were right. I don't want to get a divorce’.”
After being abruptly dumped, Hayley said she put the phone down and blocked Mark on everything and has had no contact with him since.
Hayley explained how she felt like there were no warning signs to pre-empt his decision and the whole situation has left her feeling bereft of confidence.
She said: “I wish we could have just sat down and just said, ‘Look, this is the situation. Can we make it work? Okay, let's stick together. Let's put a statement out together.'
“‘Because it all happened and I felt completely alone. I felt really scared. I am a positive person but I couldn't get out of bed because I felt so low.
“I thought counselling would be a weak thing to do, and it would be embarrassing. But it really helps me to know that others have gone through the same thing.
“And that I'm not alone and OK to have nightmares, it's what happens.
“This was real love and I poured all my love into him. I put him on a pedestal - but now I've got to pour that love into myself instead.”