Frankie Dettori proved a welcome addition to this year's I'm A Celebrity series when he joined the camp alongside boxer Tony Bellew last week as late arrivals.

Born Lanfranco Dettori in Milan, Italy in 1970, he moved to England as a 16-year old to work as a stable boy in the yard of trainer Luca Cumani in Newmarket. It also allowed Frankie to train as an apprentice jockey, following in the footsteps of his father, Gianfranco – a 13 times Italian champion.

Frankie went on to surpass his dad's achievements in an incredible 35-year and counting career, however, and was crowned British flat racing Champion Jockey on three occasions. The 52-year old star smashed numerous records en route to winning 287 Group 1 races in prestigious events including the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup.

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Frankie, who was awarded an honorary MBE in 2000 for his services to sport, has had quite a life away from the track and the stables, meanwhile. Join us as we take a look into his family dynamics.

30-year marital dispute

Frankie met his wife Catherine Dettori [nee Allen] whilst she studied at university, with the pair marrying in 1997 and going on to have five children together. The couple have been the subject of a longstanding disagreement, however, over their choice of residence.

Throughout his career Frankie has expressed a desire to live in the city where he believes you can walk around with your "baseball cap down" so that "no-one recognises you". Catherine, however, prefers the quiet life and has been more than happy living in the family's Newmarket mansion in the country.

That all changed earlier this year though, with Frankie claiming his spouse has finally agreed to let go and rent out their huge property at a whopping cost of £15,000 per month. He told the Daily Mail earlier this year: "It has always been my dream to live in London and my wife always stopped me. I always wanted to live in a flat in London with a gym and an underground car park and she wanted animals and land. After 30 years I think I have convinced her. I have spent all my life outside and in the countryside. I'd like to do something different."

Jockey daughter

Frankie and Catherine are the proud parents of Leo, Ella, Mia, Tallula and Rocco. Back in 2015 Frankie shared his belief that their youngest, Rocco, was the most likely of his offspring to follow in his footsteps. "If I had to tip one, it’s him. He has the physique and likes to go flat out."

However, things didn't go to plan during the Covid-19 pandemic, a time which saw his son bulk up too much in the gym. "Rocco, in Covid, he went into the gym and he turned out to be a pretty robust guy, strong and muscly, so unfortunately his career is gone somewhere else," Frankie later admitted. "He still loves his riding but he is way too big and too strong."

Second eldest Ella took him by surprise, however, and competed in her first horse racing event in 2021 at the age of 19. Racing in the Magnolia Cup at Glorious Goodwood, Ella's contest ended in a dead-heat, with judges unable to separate her from a competitor. "Dad gave me a few tips before the race," she joked after her incredible debut display. "I hope I made him proud – that was my aim."

Downsizing and manager split

With retirement in the pipeline, Frankie recently revealed he had split from his agent of 36 years, Peter Burrell, and is now represented by Howard Kruger’s H Talent Management. Since the change in circumstances, Frankie has decided to downsize and sell off a number of his trophies and racing memorabilia. Earlier this month it was reported that he had raised £75,000 at auction, which he intends to put towards Ella's wedding next year.

Opening up on the split July, Peter told the Nick Luck Daily podcast, said: "We decided two or three weeks ago to head into the paths we need to go in. I’m 60, Frankie’s 52. We just felt the time was right and I felt it was right as well for me to get some direction of travel on my own. There’s no issues, it’s a direction of travel. I can walk forwards into doing some other stuff. It’s my time to do other things as well, maybe."

I'm A Celebrity airs every day at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

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