The controversial British doctor who is dating Elle Macpherson built a new house for his wife of 31 years before dumping her a month later – because ‘he wanted to find himself’, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Andrew Wakefield and his wife Carmel had just put the finishing touches on a $1.4m Tuscan-style villa that was to be their luxurious new home in an upmarket suburb of Austin, Texas when he announced he was leaving.
The former physician, 61, moved out around eight months ago and hasn’t been seen there since, according to friends of the estranged couple who married in 1986 and have four grown-up kids.
Wakefield, who was banned from practising medicine in the UK because of unethical behavior, was first pictured beside 54-year-old modeling icon Macpherson at an awards ceremony last November.
However, his wife’s brother revealed on Tuesday that he only split up with Carmel in April – who is now selling the dream home her estranged husband built for her.
Andrew Wakefield, who is enjoying an unlikely public romance with Elle Macpherson (together right), built a new house for his wife Carmel (left, with Wakefield in 2010) before dumping her a month later
Andrew Wakefield and his wife Carmel had just put the finishing touches on a $1.4m Tuscan-style villa (above) in Austin, Texas, when he announced he was leaving
Their fledgling romance was confirmed this week when DailyMail.com revealed exclusive photos of the loved-up pair walking arm in arm and kissing at an organic food market.
The photos are said to have stunned 61-year-old Carmel, a medical doctor, voice actor, radio host and longtime supporter of her estranged husband’s discredited work linking the MMR vaccine to autism.
‘They had just build the house and a month after they moved in Andrew just decided he wanted to do his own thing – and off he went,’ dished a friend.
‘There wasn’t a big argument, he just said he was moving on. He said he wanted to find himself.
‘They were married a long time so it must have come as a shock, but Carmel is doing OK. She is a wonderful person. We love her to death.’
The former physician, 61, moved out of the home around eight months ago and hasn’t been seen there since, according to friends of the estranged couple
Wakefield only split up with Carmel in April – who is now selling the dream home her estranged husband built for her
The home in an upmarket suburb of Austin, Texas, has spacious open kitchen and sun-drenched family room
As well as stunning views, the home has expansive decks and a swimming pool with a waterfall
Healthy eating advocate Macpherson has had her own share of marital strife recently after divorcing the billionaire Jeffrey Soffer in 2017, reportedly walking away with a $53m in cash and $26m worth of property.
But the supermodel known as ‘The Body’ appeared to have put those troubles behind her as she cozied up to Wakefield, clutching his arm and kissing him tenderly at Glaser’s Farm organic market in Miami on Friday.
‘He’s kind of a jackass,’ the friend said of Wakefield. ‘He’s not friendly at all. He hasn’t got any charisma.
‘It amazes me he’s dating Elle Macpherson. I cannot imagine what she sees in him. She needs her head examined.’
A former doctor and researcher, Wakefield became notorious for fuelling the anti-vaccination movement with his widely debunked research claiming the MMR jab caused autism and bowel disease.
He was banned from practising in the UK in 2010 but relocated his family to the US when he continues to promote his controversial approach to medicine.
Wakefield was first pictured beside 54-year-old modeling icon Macpherson at an awards ceremony last November (above)
Neither Wakefield, nor Macpherson have commented publicly on their relationship status, while Carmel is believed to be outside the US visiting her 24-year-old daughter Imogen, who studies abroad.
Her brother Finbar O’Donovan told DailyMail.com this week however, that he had spoken with his sister and she was both ‘shocked’ and ‘amused’ by her ex-husband’s PDA.
O’Donovan suggested the estranged couple, who also have three sons named James, 29, Samuel, 27 and Coren, 21, had only confirmed they were separating in April and were yet to initiate divorce proceedings.
‘She feels let down because it would seem that they got together soon after she and Andrew split, which was only a few months ago.
‘It is very soon after a marriage breakdown,’ he said, adding that he no longer speaks to his brother-in-law.
‘They had to move to America, his career was in ruins here, and my sister was always one of his biggest supporters professionally.’
As well as the spacious open kitchen, the Tuscan-style villa in Texas features a beautifully finished family room
The 4,910 sq ft home in Austin also has bonus air-conditioned basement with a gym, workshop, and game room
The property in an upmarket suburb of Austin, Texas, boasts two bedrooms, and two suites with walk-in closets and private bathrooms
The family room inside the lavish home is pictured furnished with a large coffee table and comfortable couches
An en-suite bathroom attached to one of the bedrooms in the property boasts a marble-finished sink and walk-in shower
A lavish bathroom in the Tuscan-style villa – worth $1.4million – features a luxurious deep soaking tub and two sinks
Rolling Hill Country views are framed in nearly every room of this gorgeous home, according to the property listing
While Wakefield embarked on lecture tours of the US painting himself as the victim of a global conspiracy Carmel produced her own stream of YouTube videos highlighting problems faced by parents of autistic children.
The couple’s first home was a five-bedroom, 5,000 sq ft ranch in the western Austin suburbs, worth in excess of $1.4m with a pool deck, Jacuzzi and waterfall overlooking a rolling hillside.
They later snapped up a plot of land further along the same road and in 2015 began building a Tuscan-style, three-bed villa with terracotta roof tiles, ornate rock gardens and a large guesthouse.
Property websites value the three-bedroom property at $1.4m but locals say it could be worth considerably more.
Carmel is believed to developing at least one other local property as well as hosting a radio show playing classical music.
She also works under her maiden name, O’Donovan, as a voiceover artist, describing her style as ‘British, authoritative, educated, calm, chatty, wry.’
A web page promoting her work says she specializes in pronouncing medical terminology as she is a medically qualified doctor.
Wakefield (above, with Elle Macpherson in the background) was banned from practising medicine in the UK because of unethical behavior
The photos of her estranged husband with the model are said to have stunned 61-year-old Carmel, a voice actor, radio host and longtime supporter of his discredited work linking the MMR vaccine to autism
Macpherson is a well-known devotee of alternative medicine and has spoken about her use of acupuncture, natural remedies and a daily alkalizing supplement
She can also perform a range of accents including ‘Irish, French, Spanish, African (Oxford educated) and Exotic Arabian.’
Macpherson and Wakefield were both guests at the Doctors Who Rock Awards, a black tie gala held last November in Orlando, Florida to honor leading exponents of ‘integrated medicine’.
The unconventional approach to healthcare mixes conventional science with holistic medicine and alternative therapies ‘to heal the body, mind and spirit’, according to its exponents.
Wakefield was the recipient of one of the 20 to 30 prizes, according to a coordinator for one of the organizers, the nonprofit United Intentions Foundation.
Another recipient was Dr. Joseph Mercola, author of The No-Grain Diet and The Great Bird Flu Hoax, who has attracted controversy for criticizing a reliance on vaccines, prescription drugs and surgery to treat diseases.
Mercola is currently promoting a video entitled: POWER UP! How to Improve Your Mitochondrial Function with Diet and Light to Prevent and Treat Disease.
In his now notorious 1998 paper, Wakefield – who was born in Berkshire, England – speculated that being injected with a ‘dead’ form of the measles virus via vaccination causes disruption to intestinal tissue.
As a result of his dire warnings, the UK’s vaccination rate fell from 92 per cent to 84 per cent by 2002.
Recorded cases of measles also soared from 56 in 1998 to 449 in 2006. In the US, meanwhile, researchers have estimated that as many as 125,000 children born in the late 1990s were not given the MMR vaccination because of Wakefield’s spurious claims.
His message has also been blamed for spikes in measles rates elsewhere in the world.
The shamed clinician was banned from practising medicine in the UK however he continues to promote his theories in the US, where admirers include President Donald Trump (pictured with Wakefield in August 2016)
Wakefield’s theory was found to have been based on false evidence and it was retracted by the leading medical journal, The Lancet, in 2010.
The shamed clinician was banned from practising medicine in the UK three months later however he continues to promote his theories in the US, where admirers include President Donald Trump.
Wakefield met the President along with four other anti-vaccine campaigners in the summer of 2016 as well as attending an inauguration ball after Trump’s election victory.
Macpherson is a well-known devotee of alternative medicine and has spoken about her use of acupuncture, natural remedies and a daily alkalizing supplement she uses to combat aging made from Chinese herbs and mushrooms.
The Australian beauty is currently based in Miami, having relocated from London with her sons Flynn, 19, and Aurelius, 14, to live with her second husband, the billionaire real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer.
They married in 2013 at the exclusive Laucala Resort in Fiji but divorced four years later.