The controversial British doctor dating Elle Macpherson is ‘deliriously in love’ with the supermodel and has adopted a strict new health regime to keep up with her, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Andrew Wakefield, 61, has lost inches off his waistline after replacing his favorite foods with nutrition-packed ‘wellness shakes’ recommended by healthy-eating devotee Macpherson, 54.
The married father-of-four has also swapped out his dowdy wardrobe with trendy linens and slim-fit outfits to impress his world famous girlfriend, according to close friends.
Brian Burrowes, 48, who edited Wakefield’s controversial 2016 documentary Vaxxed, confirmed that he started dating Macpherson after meeting her at an awards ceremony in November.
However his wife’s brother revealed on Tuesday that he only told her that their relationship was over in April
Night they met: Elle Macpherson and Andrew Wakefield are seen in a photograph obtained by DailyMail.com at the ‘Doctors Who Rock’ awards ceremony in Florida in November 2017 where they sat beside each other, prompting a romance. Friends say his marriage was already over
DailyMail.com can also reveal that Wakefield has whisked away his new love on a trip to the French countryside and also enjoyed nights out with her in LA and Austin,Texas where his former marital home is.
Neither Wakefield nor Macpherson have commented publicly since DailyMail.com revealed exclusive photos this week of the loved-up pair walking arm in arm and kissing at an organic food market in Miami.
The pictures are said to have stunned Wakefield ‘s estranged wife Carmel, 61.
DailyMail.com revealed on Tuesday that Wakefield built a new $1.4m Tuscan-style villa for her in Austin, Texas, before leaving her ‘to find himself’ late last year
Look of pride: Elle Macpherson looks directly at her new lover Andrew Wakefield at an anti-compulsory vaccine event called ‘A Celebration of Medical and Parental Rights’ held in Red Bank, New Jersey, in January. The two also shared a dairy-free fruit platter at the event in line with his new diet as he pushed his book ‘Vaccine Epidemic’
The way he is: Andrew Wakefield, 61, was photographed on Friday at an organic food market in Miami shopping with Elle Macpherson, 54, for food and wearing his new preferred trendy outfit of linens
And the way he was: Andrew Wakefield and his now estranged wife Carmel were seen together in 2010 when his medical career was left in ruins by the General Medical Council in London, England, which ended his right to practice medicine
Wakefield, who was banned from practicing medicine in the UK because of unethical behavior, was first pictured beside modeling icon Macpherson at an awards ceremony last November.
But his business partner and fellow autism campaigner Polly Tommey insisted Wakefield’s 31-year marriage was over long before his chance meeting with ‘The Body’.
‘He’s obviously a bit infatuated. He did say to me “Brian how did this happen?” I laughed and said I really don’t how this happened. I’m just really happy for him.’
Brian Burrowes, who edited Wakefield’s 2016 documentary
‘He separated from his wife a year ago, whatever anyone else says is false,’ Tommey, 51, told DailyMail.com.
‘It’s too bad but these things happen. Why stay in a marriage when you are unhappy?
‘Elle is such a sweetheart. She’s got him on these shakes now for his lunch and dinner. He’s lost weight, he’s swapped his dodgy jackets for linens, he looks fitter than ever.
‘He’s portrayed as some horrible child killer but it’s bulls**t – he’s just a lovely guy who only wants to protect children. He deserves happiness as much as anyone.
‘I actually think she’s lucky to have him. They are really, really happy together. He’s deliriously in love and we are all thrilled about that.’
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 practicing in the UK in 2010 but relocated his family to the US when he continues to promote his controversial approach to medicine.
Brian Burrowes, 48, who edited Wakefield’s controversial 2016 documentary Vaxxed confirmed he and Macpherson had begun dating after they were both guests at the Doctors Who Rock Awards in November last year.
The black tie gala held in Orlando, Florida was to honor alternative medicine practitioners, with Macpherson handing out an award and Wakefield receiving one.
‘He sent me a photo of them together asking “do you know who this is?” I said of course I do, I remember Sports Illustrated,’ Burrowes told DailyMail.com.
Following: Andrew Wakefield and Elle Macpherson follow each other on Instagram and both posted from Provence, in the south of France earlier this month. Macpherson commented on his post from the childhood home of the post-Impressionist painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
Sun’s out: Elle MacPherson also posted emojis on one of his rare instagram posts, also from France. The two have also traveled to Los Angeles, his hometown of Austin, Texas, and Miami, where she lives
The shamed clinician was banned from practicing medicine in the UK however he continues to promote his theories in the US, where admirers include Donald Trump, who he met during his presidential campaign, in August 2016
‘I asked what was happening and he said he was at a ceremony when she sat next to him. They hit it off and then a while later I heard she flew to LA where he was living at the time.
‘They also came to Austin together for a couple of days and he introduced her to us. They were very couply, they went for a walk and he showed her around the place.
‘He’s obviously a bit infatuated. He did say to me “Brian how did this happen?” I laughed and said I really don’t how this happened. I’m just really happy for him.’
Wakefield and Macpherson both posted photos from the South of France from their respective Instagram accounts in late June and early July.
There are no shots of them together but the Australian has commented under several of Wakefield’s photos, writing ‘Love those red shutters’ under an image of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s childhood home, Chateau Bosc in Albi.
Friends: Polly Tommey and Brian Burrowes told DailyMail.com they were delighted that Wakefield had found love with Macpherson after the collapse of his marriage
Reached today by telephone, Wakefield would only say: ‘Yeah no comment. Thanks very much, bye.’
Carmel Wakefield, who is believed to be outside the US visiting her 24-year-old daughter Imogen, who studies abroad, is also yet to comment.
But her brother Finbar O’Donovan told DailyMail.com this week his sister was shocked by how quickly her estranged husband had moved on.
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.’
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’s wife Carmel is now selling the dream home her estranged husband built for her. They confirmed their split in April although Wakefield’s friends say the marriage was over a year ago
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
The former physician, 61, moved out of the home and hasn’t been seen there since, according to friends of the estranged couple. He brought Macpherson back to Austin, TX, and introduced her to friends
As well as the spacious open kitchen, the Tuscan-style villa in Texas features a beautifully finished family room
She can also perform a range of accents including ‘Irish, French, Spanish, African (Oxford educated) and Exotic Arabian.’
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.
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 practicing 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 by her ex partner Arpad ‘Arki’ Busson – 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.