Gogglebox star Isabelle Silbery details the heartache of leaving a loveless marriage 

Breakups are notoriously difficult, but they’re made all the more messy when the person you’re splitting from is someone you’ve been with for years and have children with.

No one knows this more than Isabelle Silbery. 

The Gogglebox star and one third of the multi-generational Silbery ladies split from her husband of five years Craig Silbery and the father of her son in 2017 and has since been navigating the tricky waters of leaving a ‘loveless marriage’.

‘I felt tired, defeated, a shell of myself,’ Isabelle (pictured) recalled in an open letter about the first few days after her breakup

‘I felt tired, defeated, a shell of myself,’ Isabelle recalled in an open letter to other women in difficult marital situations, written for Whimn.

She said that she will ‘never forget’ the first day she spent in their family home after the breakup, as the reality of what she had done ‘came crashing down on me’.

‘I was overwhelmed by grief for the life I had been investing in for seven years. I was a Mum to my toddler while helping my husband with his business, so who was I now?,’ she said she questioned.

Isabelle (pictured at her wedding) said she will ‘never forget’ the first day she spent in their family home after the breakup, as the reality of what she had done ‘came crashing down’

Isabelle even admitted that she had delayed leaving the marriage for longer than she should have because she so desperately wanted to make it work.

‘I feared failing and the shame and stigma of being a single mum,’ she said, added to the fact that she has a family history of divorce and didn’t want to be another statistic.

When it came to healing her heart, the TV star said the best healer has – as always – been time.

She has been practising mindfulness and Pilates to help get back on track, as well as speaking openly about the breakup. 

‘I feared failing and the shame and stigma of being a single mum,’ she (pictured) said, added to the fact that she has a family history of divorce and didn’t want to be another statistic

When Isabelle first re-appeared on the TV program after her breakup, she explained that Gogglebox’s couch would from then on be filled with ‘three single ladies’.

This was a subtle hint towards the breakup, which was later confirmed by the reality TV star. 

Isabelle and Craig wed in 2011 in a beach-side ceremony attended by her sofa buddies, mum Kerry and grandmother Emily.

They famously met in 2009 while walking their dogs.

It’s not only Isabelle’s (pictured) love life that has been difficult recently. Earlier this year, she took to Instagram to detail her health struggles after she had two high-grade cancer polyps

It’s not only Isabelle’s love life that has been difficult recently either. Earlier this year, she took to Instagram to detail her health struggles, writing:

‘Everything is A-OK. I’m not posting this for sympathy as I’m totally fine but more a little public safety announcement to anyone who has been putting off that “check up”… the time is now.

‘Eight months ago I was really sick in NY on a girls trip and put it down to gastro but in my gut (pardon pun) I knew something was up & chose not to ignore the symptoms,’ she continued.

‘Turns out, I needed to have two high-grade cancer polyps cut out of my bowel a few months ago… the doc said that if left any longer, it wouldn’t have been good.’ 

Isabelle urged others to get themselves checked, for polyps or otherwise.

Polyps are non-threatening growths in the wall of the bowel and are usually harmless, however malignant polyps can develop into cancerous tumour if left undetected.