Olivia Attwood has spoken publicly for the first time since her split from footballer Bradley Dack, revealing that the couple’s lavish, ITV-broadcast wedding was never legally registered, a decision she says protected her finances once cracks began appearing in the relationship.
Olivia Attwood has defended her decision to marry footballer Bradley Dack in a ceremony that was never legally binding, describing it in her first interview since their break-up as a “sham” wedding. The couple, who ended their 12-year relationship in January, married in a lavish ceremony broadcast by ITV in June 2023, but Attwood has now confirmed they never completed the legal paperwork required to formalise the marriage. Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she said she chose not to sign the necessary documents because the relationship had begun experiencing “teething issues” almost immediately after the wedding.
A wedding without legal standing
Attwood and Dack became engaged in 2019 before marrying in June 2023, with their wedding forming the centrepiece of the ITV reality series Olivia Marries Her Match. Despite the scale of the televised ceremony, Attwood has confirmed the marriage was never legally registered. Under the law in England and Wales, a marriage is only considered legally valid once the required formalities have been completed, including signing the marriage schedule or register in the presence of authorised witnesses and an officiant.
Attwood told Cosmopolitan that her decision not to complete this process was driven partly by a desire to protect her own financial interests, after problems in the relationship surfaced shortly after the wedding itself. She said: “My sister said to me, ‘If it was a man who was skeptical about their partner’s honesty, and they didn’t legally bind themselves to a person, everyone would be like, “Good for you, because she would’ve taken half your money.”‘ I did the same thing and they wanted to burn me at the [expletive] stake. Where would I be now [if we had signed?] It’s been hard enough untangling our lives.”
Because the couple were never legally married, they will not go through formal divorce proceedings. Instead, any shared assets between them will be dealt with under ordinary property and ownership law, rather than matrimonial law. Attwood has said that not legally marrying ultimately made it easier to separate their finances once the relationship ended.
The end of a 12-year relationship
Attwood and Dack’s relationship spanned around 12 years before the couple announced their split in January 2026. Dack is a professional footballer who has played for Blackburn Rovers, Gillingham and Bolton Wanderers, while Attwood first rose to prominence on Love Island before building a career as a television presenter, fronting ITV programmes including Getting Filthy Rich, The Price of Perfection and Bad Boyfriends.
Describing the years leading up to the split, Attwood said she had been “living in a grey area” with Dack, blinded by her love for him, until a moment came when “everything suddenly lined up.” She described the turning point as a night out during which a woman approached her and revealed that Dack had “gone back with a random girl,” exposing his infidelity. She said: “There was nowhere left for him to hide. As soon as I knew it had happened to me, I couldn’t stay. The only person I would be cheating is myself.”
Attwood has previously accused Dack of cheating on her “multiple times” over the course of their ten-year relationship at the point they split. In an earlier statement, she wrote: “I have stood by Brad for the last ten years during which he lied and cheated on me multiple times. The breakdown of our relationship is because of this. I was in love with him and the potential I saw in him and wanted always to help him try to be the best version of himself – as I did for 10 years – covering up. Lying to my family and friends. Arranging therapy. Believing the grovelling apologies.”
She added: “I of course now feel like a [expletive] idiot. (Especially as more things come to the surface) I never wanted to say any of this. I find the whole situation utterly humiliating.”
Her relationship with ITV
Following reports that ITV was “furious” over the revelation that the televised wedding had not been legally binding, Attwood has said her relationship with the broadcaster remains strong. The claims of tension between Attwood and ITV have not been confirmed by the broadcaster itself.
