Former England rugby player Ben Foden and his wife Jackie Belanoff Smith raised eyebrows when they got married on a yacht just two weeks after meeting in the summer of 2019.

Not only was it a whirlwind romance, but their wedding day also happened to be the same day his divorce from former Saturdays singer Una Healy was finalised.

But Ben exclusively tells OK! he and US socialist Jackie, 38, who have announced they're expecting their second child together, have a very special bond – and Jackie knows all about the skeletons in his closet.

The 38-year-old – who lives in America with Jackie – revealed: “When I see myself start to fall, she’s the one who encourages me to stand up. We have a very open and trusting relationship – we tell each other everything.

“She knows all of my faults in the past, all the nitty-gritty. And I know everything about her. We’re best friends and our relationship works well because of that.”

Ben and Una – who have a daughter Aoife, 11, and son Tadhg, eight – split in 2018 after the shattering discovery that Ben had cheated on a night out with rugby pals in February 2015, days after the birth of their son Tadhg.

Reports emerged Ben bedded PR worker Becky Milne, 29, after a boozy party.

The end of their six-year marriage came just days before the two of them were set to move to America with the children, after the rugby ace landed a contract in New York. Una headed to her mum’s in Ireland and took the kids with her.

Afterwards, Ben admitted cheating on Una was what ultimately ended their marriage, adding: “I hold my hands up and say, it was wrong.

“We’re people who respect each other and we’ll always love each other because we have kids.”

Speaking about their break up in 2020, Una revealed she hit “rock bottom”.

"I was at rock bottom for a while, and I've come up. I'm on the way up now,” she said.

"It's time. It's hard and it's horrible, but it just takes a bit of time really – that's what I'd say to anyone.

"I have two children from the relationship, which is the positive which came out of that relationship."

Last year, Jackie defended Ben and the stick he has received about his badboy past.

She said" “People perceive Ben as some slimy, habitual cheater and it’s really not who he is. I don’t think Ben could possibly cheat on me.

“Everyone’s like, ‘He cheated on this beautiful, famous pop star — of course he could cheat on you’. But that’s just not the dynamic we have.”

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