Rav Wilding has found love with his TV co-star Rebecca Mason after a drama-filled few years which has seen his rollercoaster love life in the spotlight as much as his career.
The BBC Morning Live star and former copper has struck up a romance with Rebecca after announcing his split from TV producer wife Jill Morgan last year, the woman he previously credited with saving him after a career-derailing injury and a horrific stalker ordeal.
While Rav and Rebecca’s blossoming relationship is common knowledge on the Morning Live set, the pair have kept things low-key, sharing posts about one another but not confirming a relationship. This is in stark contrast to some of Rav’s other romances.
Rav’s most high profile relationship was with Big Brother star Chantelle Houghton, who he dated from 2010 until 2011.
Rav Wilding has found love with his TV co-star Rebecca Mason after a drama-filled few years which has seen his rollercoaster love life in the spotlight as much as his career
Rav’s most high profile romance was with Big Brother star Chantelle Houghton. The pair’s relationship broke down after they were snapped having a public row in Richmond Park
The pair’s relationship broke down after they were snapped having a furious and public row in London’s Richmond Park.
Days later Rav tweeted fans that he had ‘drawn a line’ under the relationship, saying: ‘It’s been a really difficult week and a lot has gone on, & I appreciate everyone’s kind words. The relationship wasn”t what I wanted so badly and wasn”t the genuine thing I thought it was.’
‘It”s so upsetting as I genuinely & truly loved Chantelle, but the publicity side isn”t always reflective of the truth. All I ask is that you don”t believe everything that”s written, and thanks again to everyone who”s been in touch – means a lot x’
A year after his split from Chantelle Rav proposed to Jill after a seven month whirlwind romance.
Jill is a TV producer who has worked on Loose Women, Top Gear and Children In Need. The couple tied the knot in May 2017 in Barbados, and went on to welcome three-year-old daughter Poppy.
But in April 2023 Rav announced he and Jill had split, writing on Instagram: ‘For those asking questions… myself and @jillmorganx amicably separated last year.
‘Our focus is co-parenting our hugely loved and beautiful daughter.’
Just as he found love with Jill, Rav suffered difficult few years which saw him suffer a career-derailing injury and go to court to see his stalker convicted.
The BBC Morning Live presenter announced on Instagram in April that he and his estranged TV producer wife secretly separated last year after 12 years together (pictured in 2020)
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BBC Morning Live star Rav Wilding is dating co-star Rebecca Mason following shock split from wife
In 2010 Toneeta Beckford was convicted of harassing the star after sending dozens of obscene messages and lewd photographs through Facebook and Twitter to the former policeman.
Rav told a court how he feared he would be killed like Jill Dando, who was shot on her doorstep in 1999.
He said: ‘Obviously in the nature of my work on Crimewatch and my predecessor being murdered in her job, I have to take security very, very seriously.
‘I had to be careful using public transport and the BBC had to increase security for me.’
Beckford was given a suspended jail sentence later reduced to 50 hours of unpaid work and a community order after an appeal.
Three years after the harrowing ordeal Rav suffered a horrific injury while training for the TV show Splash! in December 2013.
The former soldier underwent surgery after snapping the hamstring tendons in his left leg during a somersault dive for the now defunct ITV diving show.
His injuries meant he did not appear on the show, fronted by Tom Daley, and he later sued the producers, claiming his career was derailed as a result.
The couple tied the knot in May 2017 in Barbados, and went on to welcome three-year-old daughter Poppy (pictured)
Addressing his marital split in April, Rav wrote on Instagram: ‘For those asking questions… myself and @jillmorganx amicably separated last year. Our focus is co-parenting our hugely loved and beautiful daughter.’
Rav has had a difficult few years which has included a career-derailing injury in 2013
He was left with one leg shorter than the other and for a long period couldn’t walk or stand without significant pain. He claimed that he had struggled to find ‘active’ work because he was unable to fulfil the action-packed roles he used to.
‘It has turned my world upside down. I have been in a few things here and there, but the active physical work is no longer possible,’ he said in 2016.
‘I used to play rugby every week, go running, and, having been in the Army and a police officer in the past, my fitness was pretty high.
‘I used to get active jobs based on my fitness, but now I can’t do those things, the opportunities aren’t really there any more so it’s changed the entire course of my career.’
Rav and Jill had been due to have their wedding in the summer of 2015 but were forced to postpone as he recovered from his injuries.
He credited his wife with saving him during the turbulent time, and pledged his commitment to her, saying: ‘It breaks my heart that Jill and I had to cancel our wedding.’
‘She has been so supportive during this whole ordeal and all I want to do is show my commitment to her, and even that’s been taken away.’
Rav has not just suffered with physical illness as he has also been diagnosed with three neurological disorders.
Rav suffered a horrific injury while training for the TV show Splash! in December 2013, admitting at the time that ‘it has turned my world upside down
In 2019 Rav revealed that he is dyslexic, dyspraxic and also had been diagnosed by Simon Baron-Cohen as autistic in a film broadcast on the subject.
Speaking to PA he said: ‘I find it very difficult to do anything intricate; my brain just does not work that way. And the only way I can do anything is if I can see it, visualise it, literally see it with my eyes, what I am supposed to do.
‘When the challenges were given to me, and I was told, ‘You’re going to do this’, because I couldn’t see what it was going to be like at the end, I couldn’t see what I was supposed to make, I did find that really hard. It’s just the way my brain works. It was kind of tricky.’
After revealing that his TV career had never quite recovered after his Splash injury, during the global pandemic Rav announced he would join his ‘brothers and sisters in the trenches’ by making his return to the Metropolitan Police.
The BBC presenter, who has also served four years in the army, first joined the Metropolitan Police force in 2000 before moving into the TV industry.
His last position in the force was working as a Detective Constable for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in south London.
The pandemic was another tough period for the star though as he announced on Morning Live in March 2021 that he had lost his father to Covid.
‘It was so quick, so brutal, it’s awful because I can’t even go see the family because of the rules, the lockdown. I can’t even give anyone a hug. It’s been tough,’ he admitted in an emotional conversation with his TV colleagues.
The BBC presenter, who has also served four years in the army, joined the Metropolitan Police force in 2000 before moving into the TV industry
Rav was close to his dad, a nurse, who along with his mother, also a nurse, raised their five children in Kent.
He remained in close contact with his dad despite leaving home at 16 following a family break up. Social housing was unwilling to accomodate the teenager with his mother and younger siblings, leading him to join the army at 17.
He was forced to leave the army after four years after sustaining a serious leg break. And after a stint working security at Harrods in London, Rav was accepted into the Met in 2000 and was posted to Peckham in South London.
While based at Peckham, he was involved in the high-profile police investigation surrounding the death of Damilola Taylor and was based in a specialist unit on the estate where Taylor was killed specifically created in the aftermath of the murder.
Rebecca specalises in online romance fraud and scams but also has a side hustle in the TV industry, appearing on shows like Hunted and W’s Red Flag
Fast forward 24 years and Rav has left his police career but is a regular on TV screens, while his new girlfriend is building her own telly career.
Rav and Rebecca have plenty in common, with Rebecca working as a detective with Surrey Police alongside her TV work which sees her regularly contribute to Morning Live for police-related and fraud news items.
The new couple have history too, having first worked together in 2020 when Rav was presenting Ill Gotten Gains, while insiders have revealed that their Morning Live colleagues have known about their romance for weeks.
And friends couldn’t be happier for the copper couple, with an insider gushing this week: ‘All of their colleagues are happy for them. The producers and other experts have commented on a few of their posts saying how they make a great couple.’