Rhian Sugden has spoken out with striking frustration about the long shadow cast by her past messaging scandal involving Vernon Kay, saying the controversy continues to follow her despite the many years that have passed.
The model, who has since built a family, career and businesses of her own, says she remains associated with a chapter of her life that first became public in 2010 — and was thrust back into the spotlight following renewed attention surrounding Vernon and Tess Daly’s personal lives.
In a particularly dramatic reflection on how long she feels she has been judged over the episode, Rhian remarked: “People get less of a sentence for murder.”
Her words underline just how strongly she feels about a controversy that, in her view, has overshadowed far too much of what she has achieved since.
Now, as she prepares to tell more of her story in a forthcoming book, Rhian is making one thing clear: anyone expecting explosive revelations about a secret affair may be disappointed.
According to her, there was no affair.
Rhian Sugden has insisted ‘people get less for murder’ as she detailed how her sexting scandal with Vernon Kay still haunts her career today
Back in 2010, Vernon was forced to make a public apology to ex Tess Daly (pictured) on BBC Radio 1 after a set of ‘saucy messages’ sent to Rhian came to light
“It’s still something that follows me around”
The controversy dates back to 2010, when reports emerged concerning messages exchanged between Rhian and television presenter Vernon Kay.
Vernon subsequently made a public apology on BBC Radio 1 after reports about what were described in the press as “saucy” or flirtatious messages became public.
At the time, Vernon was married to Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly.
Further headlines followed years later, when reports in 2016 claimed that Vernon and Rhian had been in contact again.
The story became one of the most widely discussed celebrity controversies associated with Rhian’s name — something she says has continued to affect how the public views her long after the original headlines disappeared.
Speaking ahead of her tell-all book, Rhian acknowledged that Vernon will inevitably be mentioned.
But she pushed back against any expectation that she is preparing to reveal a dramatic secret relationship.
“Of course there’ll be mention of him,” she explained, before adding that people may be expecting “some wild revelation about a sordid affair that didn’t happen”.
She then expressed her frustration at how long the controversy has remained attached to her public image.
“I’d understand if there’d been a full-blown affair, but there wasn’t,” she said.
“Yet somehow, nearly 20 years later, it’s still something that follows me around.”
For Rhian, that appears to be the heart of the issue.
It is not simply that the scandal happened.
It is that, in her view, it has never truly been allowed to end.
Rhian says she wants her achievements to define her
In the years since the controversy first erupted, Rhian’s life has changed considerably.
She married actor Oliver Mellor and the couple welcomed their son, George.
She has also continued working and developing business ventures — achievements she says she would much rather be recognised for than a celebrity scandal from years ago.
“I’ve spent years building a career and businesses that I’m incredibly proud of,” she said.
She added that she would prefer people to focus on those accomplishments rather than “one chapter” of her life that, as she sees it, continually resurfaces.
Her comments reveal a frustration familiar to many public figures whose names become permanently connected to a single controversy.
For Rhian, however, the issue appears particularly painful because she has previously claimed the fallout had serious consequences for her career.
“It ruined everything for me”
This is not the first time Rhian has spoken openly about the emotional and professional impact of the scandal.
In 2020, she reflected on the controversy during the Channel 4 documentary Page Three: The Naked Truth.
Her comments at the time were deeply emotional.
Rhian claimed she had felt her career was gaining momentum before the scandal erupted — only for everything to change once the story became public.
“It ruined everything for me,” she said.
She also expressed frustration over what she saw as the different consequences faced by herself and Vernon.
Rhian said she felt Vernon had been able to apologise publicly and then continue with his television career, while she remained strongly associated with the controversy.
“I felt like I was going up and up with my career, and then that came along,” she recalled.
“I wish I’d never met him.”
Her remarks highlighted how differently the two people at the centre of the headlines experienced the years that followed.
Vernon continued to enjoy a high-profile broadcasting career, appearing across major television and radio programmes.
Rhian, meanwhile, has repeatedly said she believes the episode damaged her professional trajectory.
Vernon has previously characterised the messages as flirtatious banter and denied that they developed into a physical affair.
Following the original controversy, he publicly apologised and said he would cease contact with the women involved.
Why the story has returned to the spotlight
For years, the scandal periodically resurfaced whenever Rhian or Vernon discussed that period publicly.
But renewed interest followed reports in May that Vernon and Tess had decided to end their marriage after 23 years.
The couple described the decision to separate as an extremely difficult one and indicated that they intended to remain supportive parents to their two daughters, Phoebe and Amber.
Their separation inevitably prompted renewed media attention around their long marriage — and with it came the resurfacing of old stories.
Among them was Vernon’s past messaging controversy involving Rhian.
For Rhian, seeing her name pulled back into headlines over events dating back many years appears to have reinforced her belief that the scandal has become almost impossible to escape.
Despite having moved into a completely different stage of her life, the same story continues to return.
And that is precisely what she now appears determined to address.
A tell-all book — but not the story people may expect
Rhian’s forthcoming book could give her the opportunity to reclaim the narrative surrounding her life and career.
While she has confirmed that Vernon will be mentioned, she has already attempted to manage expectations about what readers will discover.
There will not, she insists, be a sensational confession about a secret affair.
Instead, her comments suggest the more compelling story may be about what happened after the scandal became public.
How did it affect her career?
How did she cope with being repeatedly defined by one controversy?
And what was it like watching the story resurface again and again while trying to build a new life?
Those questions may ultimately form a far more personal account than any explosive celebrity revelation.
Nearly two decades after the original controversy, Rhian is now a wife, mother and businesswoman — yet she says one chapter from her past continues to overshadow everything that came afterwards.
Her latest comments suggest she is ready to confront that frustration head-on.
Because for Rhian, the issue is no longer simply about what happened between herself and Vernon Kay all those years ago.
It is about how long someone should continue to be defined by it.
And with her story once again making headlines, she appears determined that this time, people hear her side in full.
