Rhian Sugden has issued a grovelling apology to Tess Daly over her 2010 sexting scandal with Vernon Kay.
Tess Daly and Vernon Kay
Vernon, 44, met the glamour model, 31, at a club in Bolton in 2010 and the pair exchanged a number of flirty messages before they were found out and Vernon apologised on Radio 1, saying: "I've been an idiot and I've let my family down."
Now, eight years later, Rhian, who is engaged to actor Oliver Mellor, 37, has written an open letter to 'Strictly Come Dancing' presenter Tess, 49, to apologise for her part in the scandal.
She wrote in The Sun: "Dear Tess, I'm sorry for the hurt and issues that were caused back in 2010. I deeply regret creating a friendship with Vernon and allowing him to continue speaking to me the way he did.
"The exchange of messages was inappropriate and I should not have encouraged such behaviour. I know it takes two to tango but I could have stopped contact. I could have changed the series of events but for one reason or another, I didn't. It was selfish of me and massively out of line."
Despite allegations that Vernon had been texting Rhian in 2016 and trying to arrange a meeting, Rhian went on to insist that the pair never met up alone.
She stressed in her message to Tess that it was only a "close friendship and flirty messages" but said she still knew it was wrong.
However, Rhian blamed "immaturity and plain stupidity" for getting involved in a friendship with the TV presenter and said it would never happen again.
She signed off the letter by saying: "I want to give you my sincerest apologies and I wish you both all the happiness for the future."
Tagged in Tess Daly Vernon Kay