Vanessa Feltz dumped fiance Ben Ofoedu after learning he had cheated on her (Picture: Getty Images)

Vanessa Feltz has detailed the agonising memories her split from Ben Ofoedu has brought up for her children. 

The This Morning agony aunt ended her 16-year relationship with fiance Ben last month after learning on Christmas Day that he had cheated on her. 

Following reports of his infidelity, the Phats and Small star recently admitted to having sex with another woman while he was working in Ibiza in 2015, while also sexting a fan and flirting with another woman. 

It’s naturally been a difficult time for Vanessa, 60, and her family, who became close to Ben, 50, over the past two decades. 

In particular, it has reminded her daughters Allegra, 37, and Saskia, 34, of their mother’s split from their dad and her ex-husband Michael Kurer in 2000. 

Opening up about the toll her recent heartbreak has had on the family, Vanessa wrote in her latest Daily Express column: ‘My grandchildren don’t see themselves as mere walk-ons. They’ve loved wholeheartedly and are reeling at the departure of the familiar beloved. 

The stars were together for 16 years and got engaged in 2006 but never married (Picture: Getty Images)

Vanessa shares daughters Allegra and Saskia with ex-husband Michael Kurer (Picture: WireImage)

Vanessa said her heart was ‘split into a million pieces’ and is taking time away in Cork to ‘heal’ (Picture: Rex Features)

‘My daughters have been plunged back 23 years to the dark days of my divorce.’ 

She added: ‘Echoes of childhood sorrow are engulfing both women. There’s nothing new about a couple splitting, but the absconding of one of the family’s anchoring foundations leaves all flailing and discombobulated.’ 

Vanessa got engaged to Ben in 2006 but recently admitted she was hesitant to walk down the aisle again after her first marriage to Michael ended in divorce. 

Ben has claimed that he slept with another woman because he was ‘insecure’ that he hadn’t yet married Vanessa after all their years together. 

‘I cheated because I was insecure,’ he told The Sunday Mirror last weekend, explaining that the woman in Ibiza questioned why he wasn’t married yet, while also boosting his ego by telling him he was ‘such a great guy’. 

Vanessa is currently enjoying a relaxing getaway in Cork to spend time with her family and to ‘heal’, after confessing her heart had been ‘split into a million pieces’.

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The end of the presenter’s 16-year relationship is taking a toll.