The sex scandal which has engulfed TV presenter Jermaine Jenas and left his betrayed wife Ellie publicly humiliated has seemingly left a couple who have long been among their closest friends with awkward conflicting loyalties.
The Jenases are long-standing close friends with glamorous couple Sam and Stephanie Leggitt – regularly socialising and even holidaying together.
Jermaine, 41, has also long worked with Sam, 34, on an education business which they have co-owned for almost a decade.
And this week Stephanie and Ellie, both 36, together launched a personal care brand they have named Preppy Skin – an initiative they had been planning long before Jermaine’s sex texts became public.
Now the Leggitts find themselves in the potentially awkward situation of each being in business with one of the two whose marriage seemingly deeply in trouble.
Jermaine, 41, was dismissed from roles at The One Show and Match of the Day in August after his ‘inappropriate’ messages to two BBC colleagues were revealed and is now seemingly fighting to save his 12-year marriage.
He said afterwards that he was in such disgrace that even the family dog had turned against him.
This week Ellie returned to social media for the first time since Jermaine’s axing from the BBC over his texts to two female colleagues – and did so to formally launch Preppy Skin which she has founded with Stephanie.
Ellie and Stephanie formally set up the teen beauty firm together in February and each own half of the business which has been in the planning for three years.
The two couples have a long and established history of close on connection.
Despite mostly avoiding social media, this has sometimes been apparent in posts.
For example, on her birthday in May Jermaine sent Ellie the following message: “Happy birthday Mrs j I love you… we love you more than you could ever imagine.. you deserve the world x”
Stephanie was the first to respond writing: “Big year ahead for @elliejenas ��������xx”
To which Ellie answered: “very big ����
But while the two women work together to build the new company, Jermaine and Sam have been working closely together for a number of years.
Sam was a director of Jermaine Jenas’s business JAJCA25 Limited for two years and at the same time the pair began working together on teacher recruitment business Aquinas Education.
Sam, who has been based in Jermaine’s native Nottingham, has been charged with heading up Aquinas’s, now called Zen Educate, London operation.
One of Jermaine’s businesses JJ Sports Rights Limited is a major shareholder in Aquinas and Jermaine has often supported the company at promotional events.
As far back as 2015 Jermaine was helping to support the work of Aquinas, appearing at Misbourne School in Aylesbury, Bucks, for their sports awards.
But as well as work the two couples have been close friends for almost a decade.
Also in 2015 Stephanie posted a picture of her holiday in Marbella Spain with topless Jermaine showing off his tattoos alongside her husband Sam and another friend.
Stephanie also posted a glamorous picture of Ellie and her together with another pal on a night out in 2018 with the caption “Team Brunette”. German Jenas was among the 52 people who ‘liked’ the picture.
The couples have much in common, enjoying luxurious busy lifestyles and exotic holidays. They even both live in grand homes.
Jermaine and Ellie live in luxury in an expansive £4 million mansion in Hertfordshire and Sam and Stephanie live in a luxurious grade II listed £1 million country home on the edge of Nottingham.
It was there, for Nottingham Forest, that Jenas made his breakthrough in football eventually securing moves to Newcastle and then Totthenham.
The Leggitts and the Jenases have both been approached for comment.