Gianni Infantino’s position as FIFA president could come under fresh scrutiny following allegations of an affair with a junior member of staff while he was general secretary of UEFA

Gianni Infantino allegedly arranged for his lover to be paid off by UEFA while he was in a position of power at European football’s governing body.

Infantino is now desperately trying to hold onto his position as president of FIFA, but allegations about the 56-year-old’s behaviour at his previous employer, which he denies, have now surfaced.

The Telegraph reports that a female employee of UEFA, who was allegedly in a relationship with Infantino, allegedly received a six-figure pay-off and funds to study an MBA after he was challenged over the situation.

Infantino, who is married with four children, was UEFA’s general secretary at the time of the alleged affair with a junior employee, who was promoted to a management position during the relationship.

He is said to have been challenged by Michel Platini, UEFA’s then president, over the alleged relationship, prompting her to leave the organisation with a substantial payment.

A UEFA spokesperson told the newspaper: “We are aware of the allegations and can confirm a departure payment was made to the individual in question, coupled with the payment of fees for an MBA course at a local business school. The payment was in line with the regulations that existed for departing staff at the time.

“Such UEFA have been tightened since 2016 and the current staff regulations – which apply to all UEFA employees at whatever level – reflect those found in a modern, high-profile organisation.” Mirror Football has contacted UEFA.

The allegations come at a time of increased scrutiny on Infantino, who is fighting to hold onto power at the top of FIFA following a backlash over his secretive plans to sell stakes in tournaments like the World Cup. His former employer, UEFA, are now the organisation leading the attempts to remove him from power.

“FIFA president Gianni Infantino strongly denies these allegations, and they are categorically untrue. Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct or violation of statutes or regulations is defamatory,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Telegraph.

“No employee at UEFA and FIFA has ever raised a complaint regarding Mr Infantino’s behaviour because there never was an incident where he was involved. All company actions related to employees, including any departure and severance packages, have always been approved by the appropriate directors in accordance with all applicable regulations.”

Infantino spent 16 years working for UEFA until leaving to become FIFA president in February 2016, a position he has held ever since.

He married Leena Al Ashqar in 2001 after they met through her work for the Lebanese Football Federation.

The helicopter was one of seven working on a fire in central Utah that was caused by lightning on July 27

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A helicopter assisting in tackling a major Utah wildfire came down on Friday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The aircraft was amongst seven deployed to combat a blaze in central Utah, which was sparked by lightning on July 27. By Friday, the fire had spread across 165 square miles and was 19% contained.

The FAA confirmed the helicopter went down in Richfield, roughly 160 miles south of Salt Lake City. The status of the two individuals aboard the aircraft remained unknown at the time.

Both the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA will launch investigations, though accessing the crash site may prove challenging if the wildfire continues burning in the vicinity, according to AP reports.

Teams fighting the flames on Friday contended with unpredictable winds, parched vegetation and scorching temperatures, alongside the threat of dry thunderstorms and lightning strikes. Red Flag warnings remained active, reports the Express.

This incident follows the deaths of four firefighters in Colorado who were overwhelmed by a rapidly spreading wildfire near the Utah border in June.

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By LIAM MORGAN, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Published: 22:36 BST, 7 August 2026 | Updated: 23:04 BST, 7 August 2026

The pressure on Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA president has grown after it emerged UEFA paid off his alleged mistress during his time with the European governing body.

The Telegraph reported the woman received a six-figure sum following an alleged affair with Infantino when he was UEFA general secretary.

It is claimed the junior employee was promoted by Infantino and given a 30 per cent pay rise at the time of their relationship. UEFA’s then president, Michel Platini, was reportedly aware and raised concerns with Infantino.

The organisation decided she would depart her role with a substantial sum, paid for by UEFA, which also covered the costs for her to do an MBA course at a business school worth £45,000 per year.

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UEFA confirmed the payment and its awareness of the relationship between Infantino and the woman in a statement to The Telegraph. 

Infantino has been married to Leena Al Ashqar since 2001 and the couple have four daughters. 

UEFA paid off a female employee who had an alleged affair with Gianni Infantino during his time at the organisation

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Infantino is under pressure to quit following his failed FOFA Forward Enterprise scheme

‘We are aware of the allegations and can confirm a departure payment was made to the individual in question, coupled with the payment of fees for an MBA course at a local business school,’ UEFA said. ‘The payment was in line with the regulations that existed for departing staff at the time.

‘Such regulations have been tightened since 2016 and the current staff regulations – which apply to all UEFA employees at whatever level – reflect those found in a modern, high-profile organisation.’

The Telegraph also reported there had been complaints about Infantino’s behaviour at FIFA, claims strenuously denied by football’s worldwide governing body.

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Infantino became UEFA secretary general – a position second only to the presidency in terms of power – in 2009. He started in 2000 as a lawyer before working his way up in the organisation.

The now 56-year-old was elected FIFA president in 2016 following the downfall of Sepp Blatter. He was re-elected in 2019 and 2023, and had been expected to secure a fourth term in March.

The revelations cast further doubt on Infantino’s position at FIFA with the Swiss-Italian facing widespread calls to quit after he was forced to abandon a widely condemned plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

UEFA are leading the charge to dethrone Infantino as FIFA president in response to the scrapped proposal, pledging to boycott any FIFA tournaments so long as he remains in the role.

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But he appears to retain support from Africa, South America and Asia – which is enough to fend off any leadership challenge ahead of the election, scheduled to take place at the FIFA congress in Morocco in March.

Mexico this week broke ranks from CONCACAF’s opposition to Infantino, reaffirming their confidence in the FIFA leadership.

UEFA’s current refusal to play in FIFA competitions will cause the governing body significant commercial problems, potentially prompting Infantino to reconsider his position at the top of world football. 

But the FIFA president has shown no sign of relenting thus far after being supported by the governing body’s hierarchy following crisis talks on Wednesday, vowing to fight on despite demands he resign.

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Infantino is facing a possible investigation after Norwegian FA president Lise Klaveness said she would report him to FIFA’s Ethics Committee.

The complaint will not only challenge the proposed sale of a £3.1billion stake in the World Cup to private investors, but also the decision to award an ad hoc FIFA Peace Prize to President Donald Trump and the suspension of Folarin Balogun’s red card at the World Cup following alleged political pressure from Trump.

When a wildfire broke out in the Müritz National Park of north-eastern Germany in July, it was no routine firefighting job. Bomb disposal teams had to work alongside firefighters because the forest floor is contaminated with cold war-era munitions. Crews could not approach parts of the blaze directly for fear of detonations.

Soon after, a wildfire tore through 42,000 hectares of the Gironde region in south-western France. As it burned through fields near the village of Le Porge, the fire exposed a forgotten cache of second world war-era shells. At least 75 were recovered from the scorched earth.

Several of the shells had detonated during the fire and one projectile punched through the wall of a house that had been evacuated. The local mayor, Martial Zaninetti, said the municipality had no record the munitions were there at all.

These events are symptoms of a clear problem: Europe is full of buried explosives left over from 20th century wars, and the continent’s wildfires are now big enough, hot enough and last long enough to reach them.

While buried munitions are always dangerous, they are usually undisturbed enough not to go off. What changes during a wildfire is heat and pressure. Explosive fillings can ignite or detonate when heated past a critical threshold. Old ordnance is also often more unstable than it was when manufactured as decades of corrosion can make casings and fuses more sensitive.

A fire burning through leaf litter and topsoil for a few minutes generally is not hot enough to cause detonation. But a fire that burns for hours or days, or that sinks down into dry peat and smoulders underground for a prolonged period of time, can transfer enough sustained heat into the ground to trigger buried munitions directly.

This happened repeatedly in 2025 during the Langdale Moor fire in North Yorkshire, UK. Flames burrowing into deep peat set off more than 20 buried second world war shells over six weeks of burning.

Fires also expose ordnance that heat would not otherwise touch. Burning off vegetation and topsoil uncovers shells and mines buried further down, leaving them lying on the surface. This is how the Le Porge fire team ended up gathering 75 exposed shells from scorched fields that no one on the local council knew were there.

The underlying physics is not unique to wildfires. Six separate munitions sites exploded across Iraq during the summers of 2018 and 2019, when temperatures regularly climbed above 45°C. No fire was involved in this case – just prolonged, extreme ambient heat. A similar dynamic has been linked to a 2020 arms depot explosion in Jordan in 2020.

Europe’s buried munitions

Europe is contaminated with explosive remnants of two world wars and roughly four decades of cold war military activity. Many of these munitions sit precisely where wildfires now burn: in forests, moorland and heath that were requisitioned for military use and then largely left alone.

North-eastern Germany’s forests, including areas that are now nature reserves and Unesco world heritage sites, were Soviet and East German training grounds during the cold war. Germany’s ordnance-clearance service, the Munitionsbergungsdienst, works through this land area by area because the scale of contamination is too large to clear all at once.

Northern France and Belgium still produce a so-called annual “iron harvest” of first world war shells turned up by farmers every spring. Parts of the “Zone Rouge” near the French city of Verdun remain officially uninhabitable more than a century after the 1918 Armistice.

South-western France, including the Gironde forests that burned in 2026, also saw heavy fighting and stored ordnance during the second world war. And in the UK, moorland such as the North York Moors were used for tank training during the second world war, leaving buried ordnance in deep peat that is now increasingly prone to burning.

The nature of the fires that now burn in areas around this buried ordinance has changed. The devastating wildfires that have struck Spain and France in 2026 offer a striking illustration of Europe’s escalating wildfire crisis. Consecutive heatwaves, coupled with low rainfall and depleted soil moisture, created extreme fire weather conditions.

Climate change is a key factor driving the increase in fire weather in the region. Summer days featuring extreme fire-prone conditions across southern Europe doubled between 1981 and 2025, and climate change projections suggest this trajectory will continue. As temperature rise and rainfall patterns shift, the probability of extreme wildfires will continue to rise.

Climate is not the only factor behind Europe’s rising wildfire activity. While North America and Europe are seeing dramatic increases in fire frequency and intensity, global fire activity is declining. Changes in demographics and land management practices are changing the availability of fuel for fire.

In Africa, for instance, the fragmentation of grasslands and changing farming practices have contributed to a decline in wildfires. The opposite dynamic is at play in Europe. Rural abandonment in some parts of the continent has allowed vegetation to accumulate, creating the fuel loads that feed extreme wildfires.

The combination of drier ground, longer fire seasons and changing land use is turning Europe’s decades-old contamination problem into a live operational hazard.

Hunter Biden has told the BBC he is “the most privileged person there is” after receiving a presidential pardon from his father, former US President Joe Biden, acknowledging it was not a good choice for America or his father’s legacy.

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC’s Newsnight, Hunter Biden defended the controversial pardon, reflected on his father’s declining health, ruled out seeking elected office and spoke about helping others recover from addiction.

Asked about the 2024 pardon, he said he understood the criticism but noted: “What would you have thought of my dad if he did not do that for me.”

“It’s something that is easily criticised and for good reason,” he added.

“It’s not fair… All I know is that I’m grateful that he did it for me,” he said, acknowledging the pardon was “not good” for the American people, the Constitution – or his father’s legacy.

He argued to the BBC that his father ultimately acted out of concern that he would become a target under Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

“I was the only one in the world that could have gotten what I got from the only person in the world who could give it, my father.”

Hunter Biden also insisted he and his father had never discussed the possibility of a pardon before it was granted.

“There is no way that you can have those kinds of discussions that would not become public,” he said.

President Biden granted his son a full and unconditional pardon in December 2024, despite repeatedly saying beforehand that he would not use the powers of the presidency to intervene in his son’s legal cases. In announcing the decision, the former president said his son had been “selectively and unfairly prosecuted”.

The pardon covered his son’s federal gun conviction, a tax case he’d pled guilty to and any federal offences committed between 2014 and 2024.

In a moment that must be seen to be believed, a 12-year-old boy miraculously avoided being flattened after a lorry dragged him underneath.

The boy was casually pushing his bicycle when he stopped and waited to cross as the lorry turned a corner.

But at the last second, the youngster was caught up in the vehicle’s manoeuvre and shoved down onto the road with a thud.

CCTV footage captured the extraordinary incident on Avenida Joaquim David in the city of Firminopolis, in the Brazilian state of Goias, on August 5.

Footage showed the boy even getting hit by the lorry’s wheels, which luckily only appeared to push him along the tarmac before he could roll free.

He was then seen rising to his feet without struggle and walking back to collect his bike, moments after the rear of the truck cleared him.

The lorry, a Volvo FH 540, was turning onto the GO-060 highway at the time, and the boy had been making his way home from school.

Staff from a nearby chemist witnessed the collision, gave first aid at the roadside, and drove him to Hospital Santa Gemma.

Medics there found he had fractured his left wrist and grazed his elbow.

While he was subsequently transferred to the Goiás State Emergency Hospital, Dr Valdemiro Cruz (Hugol) in Goiânia, where he is expected to undergo an operation, the outcome could’ve been far worse.

As for the lorry driver, he had been travelling to a rural property to load up the vehicle and contacted the Military Police several hours after the accident.

He explained to officers that he had carried on driving because the child had been in a blind spot behind his mirrors, and he had no idea he had struck anyone.

The man said he only became aware that something had happened when a friend sent him the shocking video.

He then asked for the contact details of the boy’s parents, adding that he intends to support the family and offering to meet the costs of his medical treatment.

The police are investigating the incident.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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MORE: Ex-footballer dies aged 41 in freak accident after storm kills four others

Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom has claimed he is officially declaring for the WNBA Draft in 2027 amid the ongoing debate surrounding transgender inclusion in sports. 

Freedom, who stands at 6ft 10in and played in the NBA for 11 seasons, shared the announcement with his fans through a post on social media on Friday afternoon.

In a video, the former New York Knicks and Boston Celtics star said: ‘After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I’m officially declaring myself a @WNBA prospect.

‘If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.

‘My team and I have carefully examined the WNBA’s eligibility criteria and governing framework surrounding self-identification and inclusion. Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.

‘I know my presence on the court will stir up strong opinions. I am definitely not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices.

Freedom’s announcement comes amid the WNBA’s bitter culture war after Sophie Cunningham advocated for restrictions to ‘protect young girls’ from ‘biological men’ in sports 

‘I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone – the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for.

‘My team and I are prepared to ensure these guidelines are applied equally, consistently, and without exception, and I look forward to the #WNBA honoring its stated principles. See you at training camp.’

The 34-year-old was previously picked third overall at the 2011 NBA Draft, before enjoying a career that took him to the Jazz, Thunder, Knicks, Trail Blazers and Celtics. He has not played a professional game since 2022.

Freedom’s post quickly went viral on social media as a number of political commentators threw their support behind the NBA veteran and his decision.

Riley Gaines was among those to respond to the post, writing: ‘Genius. Perfect. Waiting to see which WNBA team recruits’.

Similarly, Piers Morgan wrote on X: ‘Brilliant… now let’s see how keen the @WNBA stars are for men to play in their League.’

Clay Travis, meanwhile, who recently offered to pay $10 million to WNBA champions the Las Vegas Aces if they can beat a high school boys basketball team of his choosing, wrote: ‘Amazing. Well done.’

Freedom’s declaration comes amid an ongoing culture war within the WNBA, sparked by Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham after she said in an interview with ESPN that she wants to ‘protect young girls’ from ‘biological men’ in sports.

In a video, Freedom said he ‘meets every single requirement to compete in the WNBA’ 

Cunningham’s comments have left fans, players and coaches in the WNBA divided recently 

WNBA star Gabby Williams recently claimed she would ‘welcome’ a transgender teammate

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Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve recently wore a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ t-shirt 

Since making the comments, the sports world has been left divided. 

While some, such as Riley Gaines and Stephen A. Smith, have seemingly sided with the Fever star, others have openly criticized her and booed her on the court. 

Recently, the bitter culture war deepened after Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams claimed she would happily welcome a trans player to her team.

‘I think trans rights, right now, is our new battle,’ Williams said in a recent interview, adding: ‘We see people’s trans rights being stripped away from them; there’s a lot of discourse around trans athletes and what they can compete in.

‘I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team, anytime,’ Williams added. ‘I don’t think it’s a problem in the world.’ 

In the wake of Cunningham’s comments, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve made her feelings on the topic extremely clear on Sunday – after opting to wear a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ t-shirt on the sidelines of their game against the Fever. 

Elsewhere on the day, meanwhile, Gaines showed her support attending a Fever game and bringing a sign for Cunningham – before allegedly being told to put it away by WNBA staff.

The sign read: ‘Sophie, Thank You – A Girl Mom.’

However, during the game, retired gymnast and friend of Gaines, Jennifer Sey, revealed that the political activist had been told to put her sign down by staff. 

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A number of political commentators were quick to praise Freedom for his announcement

Political activist Riley Gaines showed her support for Cunningham by attending her game 

After the game, Gaines took to social media to take aim at the WNBA staffer over the matter

Gaines swiftly reposted Sey’s post on X and added: ‘There were no fewer than 1000 signs in the arena. Most with trans paraphernalia. The only person who was told to put her sign down by WNBA officials was me. Wonder why.’

In the end, Gaines was able to keep hold of her sign and even had Cunningham hold it as they posed for a courtside picture together after the Lynx’s 108-100 win.

Gaines, Cunningham and Sey all posed together, with the two supporters performing Cunningham’s now-iconic ‘point’ towards the camera. 

Gaines also shared a picture with Cunningham on Instagram, writing: ‘I show up for @sophie_cham because she shows up for my daughter.’

Though she didn’t comment on it, the Fever star did take time to like Gaines’ post.

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 18:00 BST, 7 August 2026 | Updated: 22:10 BST, 7 August 2026

A manhunt is underway for a child rapist who escaped from prison staff while on escorted leave.

Restricted patient, Cliff Lyons Dobbie, fled from officers in Perth city centre on Thursday.

He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, white trainers, light blue ripped jeans, a salmon-coloured golf shirt and a light blue jumper.

Dobbie was also carrying a puffer jacket and wearing a black backpack. 

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Police Scotland described him as a bald 5ft 3in tall white male with a stocky muscular build and distinctive tattoos on both arms.  

Dobbie has been held in secure facilities since 1990 after he raped a 10-year-old girl in Glasgow and sexually abused a 12-year-old boy in a field. 

He was admitted to State Hospital in Carstairs where he has remained since the depraved attacks. 

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Cliff Lyons Dobbie, a restricted patient, escaped from prison staff while on escorted leave in Perth city centre

He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, white trainers, light blue ripped jeans, a salmon-coloured golf shirt and a light blue jumper

Police have warned the public not to approach Dobbie and to report his whereabouts to the police if he is spotted.

He is currently being treated as a missing person and the investigation to locate him is ongoing. 

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It is understood NHS Tayside is working with Police Scotland during the search. 

Inspector Kris McCall said: ‘We want to trace Cliff, who also uses the name Clifford Lyons or Dobbie, as quickly as possible. 

‘I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has seen or spoken to him since Thursday, 6 August, 2026. He has links to Glasgow and the surrounding areas.

‘The public should not approach him but should report any sighting to Police Scotland.

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‘Those with information should contact police immediately on 101 or 999, or speak to any officer. Please use incident number 1696 of 6 August 2026.’

By NATALIA PENZA

Published: 21:24 BST, 7 August 2026 | Updated: 22:13 BST, 7 August 2026

Former Strictly stars Ola and James Jordan have announced the end of their 22-year marriage. 

The pair were the show’s longest-standing couple after they started dating in 1999 and married in 2003. 

But Ola, 43, and James, 48, have now fallen victim to the infamous Strictly curse as they said they have decided to end their marriage after a trial separation ‘some time ago’. 

They remain committed to co-parenting their daughter, Ella, six.   

James and Ola’s representative said in a statement: ‘It is with great sadness that I can confirm that James and Ola began a trial separation some time ago.

‘Their shared priority remains co-parenting their daughter, Ella, and they are committed to putting her wellbeing first.

The pair were the show’s longest-standing couple after they started dating in 1999 and married in 2003 (pictured 2012) 

‘They would greatly appreciate your understanding as they navigate this difficult time.’

A source said the news has come as a ‘huge shock’ to family and friends. 

They told The Sun: ‘It’s been a huge shock to their friends and family because they always seemed like such a solid couple.

‘But they know in the long run it is the right decision. They have been together for almost 30 years and while they love and care for each other, things have changed.

‘James hasn’t been in a good place for quite a while now and things came to a head recently. They’ve had some open and honest discussions about their future over the past few months and have now decided that the best option is for them to separate.’

The insider added Ola has taken her wedding and engagement ring off. The last social media post with James dates back to April last year.  

The Daily Mail has contacted their representative for comment.  

They welcomed their daughter Ella in February 2020 via IVF following a three-year fertility battle.

The couple have long been open about the ups and downs in their decades-long romance, often opening up to fans about everything from disagreements to their sex life.

Back in 2017, when they’d been together for 18 years at the time, James said ‘life isn’t all smooth sailing’ as he admitted to troubles in the relationship.

During an appearance on Lorraine, he said life with Ola has not always been easy as he revealed: ‘Life isn’t all smooth sailing – we have had ups and downs’.

Back in 2017 when they’d been together for 18 years at the time, James said ‘life isn’t all smooth sailing’ as he admitted to troubles in his relationship (pictured together in 2024)

The couple spoke in the past about their love woes, with Ola saying: ‘It’s not all beautiful and sometimes you can look at people’s posts on Instagram and Facebook and you think, oh they’ve got perfect lives, but it’s not like that…

‘Marriage is not like that, no one’s got a perfect marriage. It’s a work in progress and I think if two people want to be together, they’ll make it happen.

‘Sometimes you have dark times and you need your other half’s support, and it’s not all pretty and perfect that people seem to think.’

Meanwhile, in July 2023, the pair revealed that their sex life was back on track after previously confessing sex is ‘definitely not better with mum and dad bods’.

The former Strictly Come Dancing professionals admitted that their bedroom activities had hit an all-time low after the couple become ‘obese’.

Ola said their ‘bellies got in their way’ of their romance the previous year before they shredded the pounds with their own fitness plan, Dance Shred.

She cheekily gushed that her partner’s slimmed down figure has boosted the appearance of what he’s packing in his underwear.

She told The Sun: ‘Well, let’s face it. It’s much more pleasant nowadays, isn’t it? The bellies don’t jiggle as much as they used to.’

The split comes just three years after they revealed their plans to renew their vows at Elvis chapel during 20th anniversary trip to Las Vegas.

Speaking to The Sun in 2023, the pair enthused over their upcoming getaway to mark the special occasion and admitted that they just might end up getting hitched again.

James said, ‘You never know where you’re gonna end up after a few drinks. We used to go there loads before Ella was born and we like letting our hair down every now and again.

‘We might end up somewhere saying, “I do,” he confessed while Ola chimed in, ‘At the Elvis chapel!’

James and Polish-born beauty Ola first met at a dance competition in Blackpool in 1999 and married four years later.

They were initially dance partners before their professional relationship developed into romance, James proposed two years later and the couple tied the knot in October 2003.

The pair shot to fame as professionals on BBC One celebrity competition Strictly Come Dancing, which they both joined in series four back in 2006.

James bowed out of the show after season 11 in 2013, while Ola left at the end of series 13 in 2015.